Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Archive for the ‘Photos’ Category

When garlic starts sprouting in the kitchen, I separate the cloves and plant them in the garden. About a year later, I have a new head of garlic where once I had a clove that was past its prime.

This is my contribution to the weekly photo challenge at PhotoFriday.com.

Long time, no see! Happy Autumn! This is one of my favorite seasons, with all the wonderful produce pouring out of the garden and into the kitchen.

The freezer is full, too. Last week, we ate mostly from the freezer, pantry and garden – I have way too much in all of those places, so we’re working on paring it down. One item I found in the freezer was a package of chicken Andouille sausage from Trader Joe’s. I mixed it with fresh and frozen garden veggies, pasta and some Mexican queso cheese I found in the fridge (feta would work well, too) and we had a delicious, inexpensive meal. Yummo!

Pasta Primavera with Chicken Andouille Sausage

1/2 pound short pasta, such as rotini or penne
extra virgin olive oil
1 pound chicken Andouille sausage, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1/2 cup each of the following (or vegetables of your choice), diced: green and red bell peppers, zucchini, green beans, onions
1 jalapeno pepper, minced (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup of your favorite white wine
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese
Queso or feta cheese, diced

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, heat 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil. Add sausage and stir occasionally with a wooden spatula to brown well on all sides.

Remove sausage to a plate. Add vegetables to the pan and stir 6-8 minutes, or until they start to turn brown. Add garlic and jalapeno and stir 30 seconds or until they become fragrant.

Add wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen the browned bits. Add sausage back to pan. Taste and add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Cook about five minutes, to meld flavors.

Combine drained pasta and vegetable/sausage mixture. Serve, sprinkling each serving with cheese.

This is my contribution the the food blogging event Grow Your Own, created by Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes. The bell and jalapeno peppers and garlic came from our garden.

We have three hydrangea shrubs around our house, and all three have huge, gorgeous blooms and are all different colors. I know that the acidity of the soil determines what color they will be; the interesting thing is that we don’t do anything to the soil to affect the color. One is blue, one is purple, and one is pink. I love the huge flower heads they get.

I’m late again for the the Photo Friday weekly challenge, but I’m posting anyway Last week’s theme was Bloom.

The manure Dan tilled into the garden this spring has made a huge difference in our yield so far this year. We pulled a bunch of onions to make room for basil, and the bell peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes are coming in nicely now.

Today I will be picking and preserving Anaheim peppers and making basil pesto for the freezer, as well as for us.

A basket full of yummies

Roma tomatoes

Anaheim peppers

My contribution to this week’s Photo Friday photography challenge, with the topic Stand Out, is another photo from our trip to Ireland in 2003.

This is part of the cemetery around Corcomroe Abbey in County Clare. It was a misty, overcast day, as it tends to be in Ireland. Of course, the benefit is the brilliantly green grass. We had a great time there and would love to go back.

I got these photos ready for the Photo Friday challenge last week, and then completely forgot to post them. So the Heavy theme is over now, but I’m posting them anyway, because I think they’re so perfect for it

A few years ago, Dan and I spent a weekend in Jim Thorpe, Penn. We took our bikes and kayaks, and the plan was to go kayaking the first day and bike down a railroad bed converted to a bike trail the second day.

We had car trouble on the DelMarVa Peninsula, so weren’t able to kayak, but we did the bike trip, and had a great time.

Jim Thorpe is a beautifully restored Victorian-era town with gorgeous Painted Ladies and fabulous views of the mountains. It’s an old coal-mining town that is now a tourist attraction for the history as well as the outdoor activities available. And they have amazingly delicious pierogies stuffed with mashed potatoes served with caramelized onions. Yum.

As we were wandering around downtown, we came across this giant lump of coal, aka anthracite. According to the plaque in front of it, it weighs 15,100 pounds and consists of 99 percent carbon.

Really heavy lump of coal

Plaque in front of lump of anthracite