I'm back...for another attempt

It has been a while. I had lost interest in plants for a while and they all died. Big surprise, since I failed to water them.

It's a new year and a new attempt. My cat watched me very closely as I worked, because she knows the futility of it all. Or because I could have been paying attention to her and not a bunch of dirt and seeds.

It's spring here in New England, but you would believe it only on some days. For every 70-degree day, we get three 50-degree days. Or so it seems. We even got a dusting of snow and frost a few days before Easter. My neighbor, who does have a green thumb, already has flowers blooming. On those cold nights, she put blankets over the most fragile flowers to help protect them from frost.

So. I have some mini sweet peppers, grape tomatoes, and Campari tomatoes. I took the seeds out a few of them and planted them in potting soil in an egg carton. I also took the bulb end of celery and placed it in water.

I will keep these inside for a while. Or forever. We'll see.

Channeling My Inner Iron Chef

I manage a home for adults with developmental disabilities. Sunday, I worked in another home, one I do not know well. I was helping out, because it's that time of year when we get short staffed because of graduations and vacations. One of the residents of the home had just had a birthday, and he told me he had not had a cake yet. He wanted a cake. Well … maybe I could make him a cake ...

I searched the cupboards for a cake mix. Nothing. I even looked behind other things. Still nothing.

Well, okay … there is always making a cake from scratch. There was almost a full 5-pound bag of sugar. So far, so good. But flour …? None. I found corn meal, but no flour. Can I make a cake from corn meal? Maybe I should keep looking.

Lots of canned veggies … and soups … and garbanzo beans. Garbanzo beans! Now we are getting somewhere. I first made Chocolate Garbanzo Bean Cake when my brother was on a gluten-free, “I may have Celiac’s” kick (it turns out he isn’t gluten intolerant after all, but that’s another story). I made the cake for a family gathering and it was a hit by all who tried it – and no one could guess the “secret” ingredient.

I looked up the recipe on my iPhone. Okay … so are there chocolate chips? I need chocolate chips for the Chocolate Garbanzo Bean Cake. No. None. But there was chocolate pudding. The kind you have to cook. Hmmm ….

I searched for variations of garbanzo bean cake. There was one with lemon. Nope, no lemon in the house. There was one with whey proteinpowder. Could I use chocolate pudding instead of whey protein powder? Hmmm ….

So … I took stock of what was actually in the house. Lots of eggs. Lots of milk. Lots of vinegar (Crazy Cake takes vinegar). A really old can of baking powder (I couldn’t even find an expiration date). Imitation vanilla extract. Applesauce (some recipes use applesauce instead of oil or as added moisture). I did eventually find a tiny amount of flour tucked in the back corner of a cupboard shelf. A few boxes of pudding mix of various flavors. About ½ pint of strawberries. And one can of garbanzo beans.

When working with garbanzo beans, a blender or food processor is recommended. I tried a regular electric mixer once, and it just doesn’t work. I pictured myself having to mash all the beans with a fork. Then, on the counter, past the full dish drainer, I spied a blender!

I jotted down a few ingredients I thought should be in the cake. All I could find for measuring devices was a 1/8 cup measuring cup. No measuring spoons. So all larger measurements were multiples of 1/8 and all teaspoon measurements are approximate. Isn’t that how our grandmothers cooked?

I put everything into the blender and pressed the button. Nothing happened. Duh – I had to plug it in. Still nothing happened. Is something wrong with the blender or with the outlet? Neither, it turned out. The first two buttons control the speed and don’t actually turn the thing on. About a minute later, I had a cake batter – a bit thin, but let’s see how it goes.

I had already preheated the oven to 350 degrees. I had preheated the oven a few hours earlier for lunch and was greeted by a cloud of smoke, because the last person to use the oven had neglected to remove the pan, complete with drippings from cooking some kind of meat. I had closed the oven door really fast, before the smoke detector in the next room realized we had a crisis situation brewing. (This is one of the joys of working in a home, never knowing what you are going to find.)

I had also greased a loaf pan, because that was all I could find that was small. Ideally, I wanted an 8 X 8 or 9 X 9 pan, but I settled for 9.25 X 5.25.

The Chocolate Garbanzo Bean Cake recipe says to cook the cake for 40 minutes. I checked the cake every 10 minutes or so and was thrilled that is actually was baking. After 40 minutes, a knife inserted in the center came out clean. Done!

While the cake cooked, I cut up some fresh strawberries I found in the fridge and sprinkled them with sugar so they would make a nice syrup. If the cake turned out to be edible, the strawberries would substitute for the icing if served strawberry shortcake-style.

I wasn’t around when the guys ate the cake. I told the evening staff that I had no idea how the cake would taste, but that my fingers were crossed that it was all right. I called later in the evening just to check on my cake. I was told the guys had eaten every last crumb. And one of the guys got on the phone to tell me he really liked it and asked if I could make it again. It was the best compliment!

So here is my cake recipe. I will likely tweak it in the future. I’m sure I will end up substituting liberally the next time I make it, based on whatever is in the house I happen to be at and the tastes of the individuals who live in that house. Since not everyone can or should be eating chocolate, I think vanilla or pistachio pudding mix will make excellent flavorings.

DESPERATION CAKE

(Not to be confused with Depression Cake, which is another name for Crazy Cake.)

Ingredients:

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

2 eggs

1 package chocolate pudding mix

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ cup milk (any kind, including fat-free, lactose-free, or even soy, almond, or rice)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a small pan, 8 X 8 or 9 X 5 or similar size.

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend on medium or high speed until everything is thoroughly blended.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Serve with fresh berries or make an icing or serve just plain.

If you want to double the recipe, I would recommend making two batches so the blender can handle it better.

****

Okay … back to gardening shortly ….

More Plants

I went to the local farmer's co-op yesterday afternoon and bought a few more plants. I got rosemary and thyme to go with the parsley I already have. All I need now is sage to match the song.

I also bought an interesting variety of basil with purple leaves and Thai basil, which doesn't look anything much like basil to me. And I bought spearmint, which does look an awful lot like basil. I did a Google search and found that basil is part of the mint family.

Oh! And I bought a cherry tomato plant which already has blossoms. Maybe I'll get some tomatoes soon?

Spearmint

Basil

Update

It has been awhile, almost a month since my last update. There wasn't much activity to report. I didn't acquire anything new, and I made sure I watered everything I had regularly.

I would like to put the Campari tomato plants outside at some point. From what I understand, they don't like frost. Or that frost doesn't like them and tries to kill them. Memorial Day weekend is traditionally the first weekend past the danger of frost here in New England. That's the magic date stuck in my head, anyway. This year, we had our last frost on the morning of Memorial Day. Good thing I have been somewhat lazy and procrastinated moving anything from my kitchen table garden.

And then the last few days reached 90+ degrees, which is probably also not good for many plants.

The basil I bought March 29 has turned brown and withered. I don't know how long it is supposed to last. I think maybe it didn't get enough water. Or too much. I seem to be mistaken in my notion that basil is one of the easier herbs to grow. I was able to use some of it for cooking before it died, so all was not lost.

The Campari tomato plant from my original experiment is still alive. It has really long stems and seems like what some might call "leggy." It is more than 5 months old now and still shows no signs of producing tomatoes. I don't know how long it takes to reach that point. I saw a tip online about using chopsticks to prop up tomato plants, so I used some disposable chopsticks from the local Chinese restaurant to make a teepee-shaped structure inside the pot. With luck, the plant will grow around the homemade trellis.

The Campari tomato plants from the second round at the end of March are still alive, but haven't grown much. I'm not sure what is up with that. Perhaps they need a new location - more sun, I would assume. I think I heard somewhere that tomatoes love sun. And water.

The parsley and peppermint I bought May 7 are still doing all right. I took off the leaves that were yellowing and browning, and the rest looks fine.

The jade I got from a cutting from someone at work back in February is still alive. I can see a little new growth, which I take as a good sign. Other than that, it isn't doing much. I don't know how fast jade plants grow.

The celery root end I planted in early March is getting long and leafy. I don't know at what point, if ever, it will resemble the celery purchased in stores. The celery in stores is tall and all clumped together. My celery is falling all over the place. I don't know if farmers train celery to stay together for easier packaging or if it tends to grow that way if it gets the proper amount of water and sunlight.

Celery about 3 months after planting the root end.

Rosemary, more than 5 months after I brought it home

Peppermint, almost 1 month since I brought it home

More Plants!

Most of my current plants have been doing so well that I decided to get two more plants. Good thing plants don't get jealous. And the cat was too busy playing in the box I brought the plants and some cans of cat food home in to notice the plants.

I got peppermint, because I want to make peppermint extract. I'm not sure what else to do with it. I'm sure I can Google up something.

I also got parsley, because it's great for cooking. If I ever cook again. It's too easy to get Chinese takeout, which lasts me a few days.

The cat in the box

Peppermint

Parsley

I've got a Jungle!

...well, almost.

The basil I bought March 29 is still doing well. This is the longest I have managed to keep basil - almost a full month. It seems to need a lot of water. I must water it every day or, at the very least, every other day. I'm sure that's what killed previous plants, basil and otherwise.

I was able to make pesto the other day from this plant. I didn't make much, just enough for one serving. Why buy pesto in a jar when it is so easy to make? A few basil leaves, some garlic, some parmesan cheese, some pine nuts or walnuts, and some olive oil. And a blender (Magic Bullet is perfect for this).

My Campari tomatoes started 12/20/13 are still alive, but not getting very big. I don't know how long it is supposed to take before they get big and start producing tomatoes. Apparently longer than 4 months. Or maybe they need fertilizer or something.

 

I started some more Campari tomatoes March 27 from actual tomatoes I cut in half (the way I did with the larger plant). They are doing well, though one is significantly larger than the others for some reason. Maybe it's the angle of the light coming in the window. If so, if I rearrange the plants, maybe the others will grow larger, too.

And then there is the celery I started from the root end on or around (I forgot to record the date at the time) March 19. It's doing well, though it is not getting very tall very fast. Maybe celery and tomatoes are just slow growers.

We are starting to get warmer days here in Massachusetts. It's still getting cold at night, though. One night in the past week got below freezing. It will be a while before I can take any of my plants outside.

Tomato-Basil Soup

I made SOUP the other day! It was inspired by two different recipes, and I've made it before. I tweaked it a little this time. I don't really measure, and I don't think you can ruin soup, but I have included measurements, because I know a lot of people like to use them when following recipes. If anyone makes this soup, I hope they make adjustments according to their likings.

If my tomato plants ever produce anything, I'll be making this soup with my own home-grown tomatoes. For now, I am using store-bought.

Ingredients:

Olive oil cooking spray
1 1/4 pounds tomatoes, any variety or assorted varieties
1 T. olive oil
1/2 c. carrots, sliced

1/2 c. celery, chopped
1/4 c. onion, chopped
2 c. light, fat-free chicken broth
2 T. fresh basil, chopped
1/4 c. brown rice or rice blend
1 c. kale, chopped
3/4 tsp. agave nectar (or honey or other sweetener)
4 tsp. apple cider vinegar
a few drops red pepper sauce (to taste)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray. Cut tomatoes into smaller pieces and spread out on baking sheet. Roast in oven for 20 minutes.

Heat olive oil in Dutch oven. Saute carrots, celery, and onion. Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir in tomatoes, basil and rice. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes (or for 10 minutes less than the package of rice calls for), stirring occasionally.

Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth (or leave alone, if you don’t have an immersion blender or like chunky soup).

Makes 4 servings