Crispy Kale

The Kale is coming on strong. I plucked this gorgeous bunch yesterday planning to try something new.

Kale Chips. Yes, I said chips. Crunchy, salty, and very snackable. Oh and just as good for you as dark leafy greens, because that's what they are. What could be better?

My friend Carolyn and I laugh about the list of unlimited items allowed in most diets, which always include kale and friends, but never include chips. Sure, live it up, enjoy all the cabbage, lettuce, celery, kale you want...

I think I first read about this culinary magic on the Yarn Harlot's blog.

This is the recipe I followed. But if you google "kale chips" you'll find many more recipes, and many more devotees of this kitchen trick.

It worked great, they were audibly crunchy, slightly salty, and very satisfying. I will definitely make this recipe again. Thank goodness I have plenty of kale on hand.

Winter Roses

Well, it's not really a rose, or even a flower. But something this beautiful in the garden is such a treat during the cold, damp, dark days of Oregon winter. These are Raddichio, planted last spring. These plants actually benefit from the colder temps. It enhances their color and makes them a little sweeter, not so bitter.

Cabbages also seem to be doing fine. I may need to bait for slugs pretty soon and I'm sure all the plants would benefit from a little fertilizer treat.

The Celery has made a valiant comeback since the freeze, and should be great into the spring and summer. Current edibles include Beets, Turnips, Kale, some of the hardier Lettuce, I think it is Miner's Lettuce, chives, which have just started to sprout, and Oregano, as always.

Although I have friends who are sure that spring is just around the corner because they saw a robin or because they took down their Christmas tree, I am not ready to get out the shorts and flip flops yet. I haven't seen any daffodils.

We still have most of January, all of February, March and April, the cruelest month, according to T.S. Eliot . “April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.”

Which reminds me, we aren't that far away from the arrival of lilac, with it's gorgeous fragrance.

Winter Jasmine and Forsythia are sporting their tiny yellow flowers. Columbine has started to send up exploratory shoots, and the tulips and Narcissus I planted last fall have sprouted. So even though I'm not ready to set myself up for the disappointment of yearning for spring in the middle of winter, I have begun to see signs that it may arrive eventually.