Granbury City Beach Park

We visited Granbury City Beach Park one day in the fall, a day too chilly for us to play in the water, but we still had a wonderful time feeding the ducks and playing in the sand! 

We also came across this wonderful sand sculpture someone had built.  The detail is just amazing, as is the arch in the cat, and the way the tip of it's tail just stands in the air, defying gravity.  Cole, my 11 year old, commented that he thought it was a shame something so wonderful was made out of sand and would quickly fall apart.  I think that it's "temporariness"  (a real word, I looked it up) is what makes it so amazing.

cooking our way through the alphabet

I was aware for some time that we would visit the grocery store each week, buy the same vegetables as I had the week before, and bypass those that I either had decided I didn't like, or those that seemed too intimidating.  I was happy to live in ignorance of Endive, Jerusalem Artichokes and Hubbard Squash.  But then, as often happens to me, the light turned on in my head - and I couldn't extinguish it.  It grew brighter and brighter until I felt ashamed to enter the produce aisle.  I was certain the bok choy was laughing at me!  I was being taunted by the wakame!

As my children balked and groaned, I told them of my plan.   We would cook and eat our way through the alphabet!  Oh, how they cried, and their tears only fueled my intent that this was something we needed, we must do!  They can't live on potatoes alone!

So we invite you to follow along with us as we prepare each week a new to us veggie.  We may love some, we will probably hate a few, but be certain we will have fun doing it!  Unlike most blogs, I am going to update this entry each week, so that our entire project stays together, and you don't get lost, wandering around aimlessly between the Ahipa and the Escarole. 

February 6th     Artichokes

We have eaten artichokes, but I have never cooked globe artichokes.  They look so complicated!  I choose to make an artichoke dip from a recipe I found the recipe at the foodie blog, Cooking With My Kid.  It's the first time I had visited this blog, and I really enjoyed it!  I'm not going to reprint their recipe, so go check it out at   http://www.cookingwithmykid.com/appetizers/savory-sitter-super-bowl-healthy-artichoke-dip/

The recipe calls for canned artichoke, and while one of my "guidelines" is to use only fresh vegetables, I thought that since I have never used canned, I could get away with it this once!  We didn't make the pita chips, substituting store bought pita chips instead.  I followed the recipe to the letter, and I think it's really good!  The kids ate it, but didn't love it.  That's okay, at least they ate it!

Tomato seeds

I am at heart a gardening traditionalist.  I believe that the harder you work your soil, the better tasting the results.  But I also can't resist some of the gardening gimmicks that come along, especially the ones that look fun for the kiddos.  So I have owned numerous Topsy Turveys over the years, for tomatoes and peppers and strawberries.  Mostly I found that they put the fruit at the exact right height for our dog to walk up and take a bite.  When I tried raising them, they became a salad bar for our neighborhood squirrels, who were safely out of the dog's reach! 

We found this Jiffy Professional Greenhouse at our local megastore.  I turned my kids loose with it, a couple of packets of tomato seeds, and my camera.  The instructions are easy, add 5 and 1/4 cups of warm water, to loosen the peat pellets.

 Then just pull back the netting and place 2-3 seeds in each expanded pellet, and cover with the peat.  We planted tomatoes, which will be replanted in our home and community garden, and maybe a couple of our topsy turveys - the squirrels have gotta eat, too.   

Once they are all covered, cover with the clear dome and place in a warm location away from direct sunlight.  When seeds sprout, remove the cover and relocate to a sunny spot!  Does it work?  I'll update with pictures as they grow, but I believe that anything that gets my kids excited about getting their hands dirty has already worked!