'tis the season! Get your holiday cookie recipes ready #gingerbread #cookies

Gingerbread Cookies

Last night's Calendar Party at Trinity Church launched us into the holiday spirit. My friend Audrey hosted the December table. Her theme this year was Christmas Tea with gingerbread. She served a variety of herbal teas, tea sandwiches, and scones with all the fixings. She made a gingerbread house for the centerpiece and I made and decorated large and small gingerbread cookies that she gave out at the end of the party along with a party favor of molasses. 

We all loved Audrey's gingerbread house. You would never know that she was pressed for time and cheated using graham crackers instead of gingerbread for the house. Sssshhh...no one even noticed. Her mom, Helen, helped too; they both are very creative. Helen made the door wreath and garden window boxes on the side of the house. Decorating details included red licorice Twizzler windows and Necco wafer candy roof shingles. Audrey made the chimney out of gum 'bricks', which was cleaver and must have taken patience to assemble.

The gingerbread cookies were fun to make and decorate. I used raisins for the eyes and royal icing to decorate and put the first name initial of each guest on their cookie. Watch for my Gingerbread Cookie recipe post coming soon...
Blog post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Today in Our Fall Garden #GardenCuizine

Today in Our Garden

Today in our garden you'll find: Rosemary, Parsley, Fennel seeds, Tarahumara Popping Sorghum, red Okra, heirloom Tomatoes, Turkish eggplants, sweet and several types of hot Peppers, Arugula and plenty of potatoes! 

Potatoes are easy to grow and you can dig then up as you need them. Harry just dug up another batch. I took a video and will post it soon.

Our large white moon flowers just finished showing off their blooms. Red cannas and Show n Tell (red with yellow tips) dahlias bordering the veggie garden are still going strong and look beautiful. Dahlias make great cut flowers right up until frost, so yes, we've been taking in cuttings to enjoy them while we can.

Everywhere you look in our garden you'll see chia in bloom. Most of the plants self-seeded from last year. Bees love the tiny blue salvia flowers; they bloom just a bit too late for the hummingbirds to enjoy. Although, I did see a hummer yesterday! But, most have begun their migration South.

Bright yellow daisies on tall stems of Jerusalem artichokes are blooming now too, along with the slender white trumpets of Nicotiana sylvestris. The Nicotiana self-seeded from last year, which was a pleasant surprise.

In the kitchen, we're still using up and cooking with heirloom tomatoes. Tonight, we made Chili with some of our tomatoes and a side of homemade cornbread with chia. Harry added a few chopped and sauteed Turkish eggplants to the chili - you would never know - and no bitter taste either. Little by little we are finding uses for the strange, tiny eggplants. 

Happy Fall!
Photo collage and blogpost Copyright (C) Wind. All rights reserved.