September 22, 2013 · 10:00 AM

Fall continues to roll in.

Fall continues to roll in. The nights have cooled to the 60s and the days are barely in the 80s now.

It’s hurricane season. We have not had one come this far inland in years but it has happened before. It’s not always a bad thing. They clean out all the dead limbs in the trees and wash out the rivers of all the debris that has accumulated over the years. The last storm that made it inland punctured the roof of the house with a large limb.  I always wonder: Will this be the year?

The vegetable garden has produced its last few chilies and the tomatoes have long died. The basil plants are so large they are like small shrubs. I think I may be attempting to make pesto soon?

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Winter is the time when I focus on the hardscape in the garden and attempt to correct any ideas about the layout of the beds that seemed to not work over the season.

Throughout the year I take pictures of ideas in public gardens or around town as reminders of elements I would like to have in my garden.

I particularly like this stone wall and capstone JC Raulston Arboretum installed in their lathe house. I would like something similar on the North side of the patio as that is the high end of my sloping property. It would provide a place to sit or display potted plants and also frame the bay laurels I have planted there. The cap stones are beautiful.

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Garden spiders continue to appear out of nowhere! Beautiful yet creepy!

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And Fall bloomers continue to create a beautiful palate of color and fragrance.

Colchicums:

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And I think ahead to next year and make my wish list:

I dream of gingers… the clump below are a peach-colored and  variegated leaved plant at J C Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University.

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And the wish list becomes longer every day…

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September 17, 2013 · 5:00 AM

Arthur in the Kitchen: Squash Risotto

Squash Risotto

I Love risotto. It is simple to make – for me, and I do not understand why chefs try to make it seem so difficult or out of reach. I use regular long grain rice and I have no problem with the rice releasing enough starch to make a creamy risotto.

These are my easy steps to make a creamy risotto with zucchini.

Ingredients:

3.5 cups boiling broth – I used vegetable stock made from bouillon cubes.

2 cups rice

1/2 a large onion – roughly chopped

A few cloves of garlic – roughly chopped

salt/ pepper

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1) Cover the bottom of the pan (I use a Dutch oven) in olive oil and place it on the stove on medium high heat. Add the onion and stir to coat with oil. Continue to move the onion around so it does not burn or stick to the pan. Once the onion is soft and translucent add the garlic and stir until well coated with oil.

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2) Add the rice and stir to coat with oil.

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3) Continue stirring the rice to coat with the oil. I threw in a bay leaf for flavor.

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4) When the rice has become translucent, turn the heat to medium and stir in half of the heated stock.

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5) Continue to stir. Once the stock has been adsorbed, add the squash, and the remainder of the stock.

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6) Stir constantly until the stock is absorbed.

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7) The rice should begin to thicken and the squash should have softened.

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8) My last step, once the remainder of the stock has been absorbed and the squash is cooked, is to add 1 cup of hot water. Continue to stir.

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9) Once the water is absorbed the starch in the rice should have been released and created a creamy risotto. Salt and pepper to taste.

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And with grilled corn and homemade buttermilk biscuits…its dinner!

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You can add any vegetables you wish. Broccoli would be nice, as well as, cauliflower, too!
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September 14, 2013 · 12:45 PM

More fall bloomers and SPARKcon

The colchicums are blooming! They are wonderful Fall bloomers that remind me of a giant Fall blooming crocus. After they bloom they grow wide, thick leaves which die back in the spring.

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The hurricane lilies (lycoris) continue to bloom. After they bloom the foliage grows and persist through out the winter then dies in the spring.

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And the garden in general is very lush because of a wetter than normal summer.

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Of course, it’s best to begin the morning with an heavenly iced double mocha latte at Cup A Joe! Um, what does she have hand?

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This weekend is SPARKcon in Raleigh which is an celebration of all the arts. There are sub-festivals such as musicSPARK, fashionSPARK, danceSPARK, etc- all named after the respective class of art.

Last night was circusSPARK. Fayetteville Street was closed and circus-type performers were doing their thing. The cooler weather was perfect! http://www.sparkcon.com/

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Fall is just around the corner!

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