Love of Cuisine: Northwest Flower and Garden Show 2016

I am covering the 2016 Northwest Flower and Garden Show to provide insight and increase enjoyment. My blog posts will spotlight specific categories and will leave a trail a breadcrumbs to help my readers find the items or features that will interest them the most. The categories are: Apartment Living, Farm Chic, French Flair, Romantic Touch, Love of Cuisine and Bee Specific.

Have you ever read Edible Seattle magazine? (booth 2151, blue, Marketplace) This magazine is replicated in major cities around the country and celebrates local and seasonal cooking. The magazine is handing out free copies in their booth and encouraging attendees to subscribe. Check it out.

Salt Spring Island Cheese. (booth 2117, blue, Marketplace) They had me the moment I saw their packaging. They make soft goat cheese spreads with artistic and flavorful toppings (pink peppercorn, garlic, lemon). These are the cheeses I would bring to a party. Today I sampled their lemon topped goat cheese and it was as lovely as I had remembered. Then my mom tried it and bought a tub for us to share. A tasting party before Downton Abbey, perhaps?

Doesn't this display of ironstone and such get you in the mood for entertaining? Mismatched treasures abound in the Vintage Garden Market, from hotel silver to saucer champagnes. This white on white display is at Oscar & Co (booth VGM 57, orange, Vintage Garden Market). I call dibs on the lidded soup tureen.

If you like to cook and entertain, then I assume you have an herb garden, yes? I was impressed with the selection at N&M Herb Nursery (booth 2218, green, Plant Market). I heard a fellow shopper ask her companion, "Don't you think we should get Chocolate Mint?" If they stock chocolate mint, then I bet they have loads of the unusual mints I am always hunting for. I can't wait until I can plant a Strawberry Pot full of herbs again.

Like to end your evening with a nightcap? Why not check out the free seminar:
"Good Libations: Concocting Cocktails from the Home Garden" on Saturday, Feb 20 at 11:45 am on the DIY Stage.

Northwest Flower and Garden Show at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. Show is open Wednesday, Feb 16 - Saturday, Feb 20 from 9am- 8pm, and Sunday, Feb 21 from 9am - 6pm.

#NWFGS #springinfeb #seattle

Apartment Living: A Window Box with Science in the Soil

I couldn't take it any longer. I was in Seattle in mid-March and every home improvement store, garden center and grocery store in Seattle had racks of herbs and flowers for sale. I'm strong, but I'm not that strong. 

I.Love.Plants.

Three inches of snow fell last night (3/30/15) in Michigan, my home base, and we are weeks (and weeks?) away from planting our pots.  

Yet back on March 9th in Seattle, Spring was in full swing! When I see cherry blossoms like this, it's hard not to think gardening.

So I decided that a window box for our apartment balcony would make sense. Herbs for cooking and flowering plants for color. I will certainly add pots and plants when I am in Seattle later this Spring, but this type of planter should be able to thrive while I'm away.

I bought a wonderful black plastic window box (with drainage holes and a water tray) at Home Depot, a bag of Miracle Grow Moisture Control Potting Soil and a collection of plants.

I crumpled a few strips of paper grocery bag to help support the plants and make up for my shortage of soil. I needed about 5 cups more to truly fill the planter properly - hopefully the paper will help with drainage and circulation. Some of the plants were potted in disintegrating pots, which I love, because you plant the herb right into the soil in it's pot and don't have to disturb their roots removing a plastic pot.

I chose Miracle Grow "Moisture Control" potting soil because it contains fertilizer and a component that retains water (from rain or intentional watering) and then releases the water to the plants as the soil becomes dry. I figure that the rain in Seattle will help naturally water my garden and the science in the soil will help keep the plants happy. 

The plants I chose are:

• primulas (pink, yellow, apricot)
• violas/pansies (lavender, violet/orange)
• Cinnamon Basil
• Pineapple Mint (it's risky, but I kept this mint in the pot when I planted it. Mint has an aggressive root system and I didn't want it to take over and stifle the other plants)
• Sage
• Lemon Thyme
• Dill
• Rosemary

The photograph at the top shows my little garden just after planting. Here it is, two weeks later and still doing well! Miracle Grow indeed.

Herb Appeal

This is the goal: a healthy herb pot on the patio at the cottage, shown here on one of my Ana's Delight Totes (if you want a tote with this cover, just email me).  I am happy to report that we will have planted our herb pots one week from today!

My dad and I always celebrate Father's Day by planting herb pots together.  His pot stays up north and we cook from it all Summer.  Mine travels back home with me, wrapped in a plastic bag and gently wedged between a laundry basket of weekend clothes and, say, an electric ice cream maker.  It always makes it home, but I'm a little nervous until it is taken out of the car, unbroken.

Last Summer we didn't make an herb pot for the first time in years and we both missed it terribly.  We blame a combination of timing, weather and travel schedules;  we didn't have a great selection of herbs and the time to pot them intersect. So....this herb pot feels even more important.

Last week we went to Wiegand's and we thrilled to find: Ginger Mint, Lemon Thyme, Dill, Chocolate Mint, Variagated Sage, Orange Mint, Parsley, Hot n Spicy Oregano...  It was an herb specialists dream!

Father's Day is Sunday and we will be planting together by Tuesday.  Can you see me smiling?

Mixing Flowers and Herbs

 

I wanted you to see how simple and effective it is to mix flowers and herbs together in a bouquet.  This is a David Austin English Rose ("Heritage") combined with a variegated leaf Pineapple Sage - and boy does it smell heavenly.  


You'd be surprised by how many people walk into our family room and think that they aren't real!  Aren't they gorgeous?  I have them in a hanging chemistry tube vase that I found a few years ago at CB2 (a less expensive and more modern version of Crate and Barrel).  You can find a similar vase here.


I was recently interviewed about how I use herbs in my life, you can read about it here in the "Mix with Flowers" section.  Enjoy!

Hail the Herb

Would you ever think that an herb could steal all the thunder? 

As a scoured the garden looking for the last few signs of Summer, I took a good look at my variegated sage.  It was as happy and healthy as when I planted it in May and I remembered that I had the perfect little vase to showcase it in.

I had "stamped" (with a cotton swab) a similar shade of green glass paint onto an empty jam jar ages ago.  How pretty!

As I built this bouquet, I was happy to find some lantana and two "Daybreaker" roses in bloom.  I love how it looks together (especially against the black table), but I can't stop looking at the green!

Hail the herb!

Herb Pot

I love love love having an herb pot just outside my kitchen window.

It makes it easy to add a sprig of rosemary to roasted potatoes, some basil to an heirloom tomato salad, even a "bit of green" to a bouquet of flowers.

Every year my Dad and I plant strawberry pots with our favorites (pineapple sage, lemon thyme, chocolate mint) and tend them all Summer long.

I even designed a day bag (click "Delight Totes" button on link) called "Herb Appeal" in honor of our tradition. The leading article is:

"Pot + Water + Sunlight = Herb Appeal"

Top 10 Herb Gardens

The Herb Society of America has listed the Top 10 Not-To-Miss Herb Gardens in the United States. To check it out, simply click here and open their pdf. I was talking "herbs" one day with a Master Gardener and she suggested that I visit Greenfield Village and photograph the garden they have dedicated to herbs. So cute - it makes me want to edge everything with brick! They have a vine-covered sitting area to the right where I sat in the shade and drained an icy lemonade.

Father's May Herb Pot: Planting a Tradition

Every year, my Dad & I celebrate Father's Day...in May. You see, our tradition is planting matching herb pots and we want to plant when the herb selection is best.

First, we shop for mint & sage & thyme, oh my! Then there are discussions about dirt (bagged or from the garden), who has the Soil Moist (usually me) and how the weather is looking for Memorial Weekend (gorgeous!). 

We plant a different herb in each hole of our strawberry pots. Sometimes, as a crowning touch, we add a "Sweet 100" cherry tomato plant next to the dill and orange mint on top. Sometimes the cherry tomato plant grows too big and it dominates the pot; other times it is just right. I certainly love seeing the bright red cherries, but in truth, it is probably best to stick to just herb. What choices there are!

Our little herb garden is compact, beautiful and smells divine. Happy Father's May.

Pot of Herbal Tea

So cute! I was at the green house shopping for herbs and roses when I saw this beautiful collection of plants in a light green pot.

Literally a "Pot of Herbal Tea," it is loaded with Orange Mint, Chamomile and Lemon Balm to make tea from fresh leaves. 

It smells so bright & wonderful, I am going to keep it by the kitchen sink for as long as it looks "happy." After a few weeks, I'll move it to the kitchen deck to keep it flourishing.

Can't you see bright green leaves steeping inside a glass teapot? Gorgeous!

Yummy Greek Chicken

What sounds good? Greek chicken on the grill. Simply marinate bnls skls chicken breasts in Kraft Greek Vinaigrette salad dressing for 1 hour and then grill. 

For a delicious low fat dipping sauce, mix 1/4 c. fresh mint (chopped), 1 cucumber (finely diced) and 2 c. nonfat plain yogurt.

It has a fresh clean taste that cools the zesty grilled chicken - it is wonderful on the side, trust me!

Ahhh...dinner on the deck.

Beeswax Votives

I was out & about on Saturday adding details to my "Leelanau Tour #4" and I was lucky to arrive at my favorite beeswax place, Beedazzled, while they were making candles. 

The sweet aroma of these votives is one of my favorite scents - they truly smell like honey. Plus the garden out front is lovely. When you walk on the path, your footsteps crush the herbal ground cover and your walk becomes scented. This is delight.