The Fruits (and Veggies) of Our Labor

As I get older, I seem to become more interested in doing things myself. Maybe this is a kind of advanced independence. This desire to do things myself mainly comes to light in the kitchen. I adore making things from scratch...anything from pasta sauce to tortillas to desserts. I've always valued authenticity. So you can imagine how much fun I am having with my very own veggie garden! Bob and I worked hard to dig up a section of our back yard and had heaps of fun choosing what we would plant. Now, three months on, we are seeing and tasting results! So far we have harvested two cauliflowers, and thanks to a recipe by Ted Allen (I swear, if he was straight and I was single....) I've actually ENJOYED eating them! Our tomato plant is coming along very well, with some tomatoes already turning red. We also pulled up one of our potato plants and found many little dirty beauties. We boiled them up with a bit of fresh mint (again, from our garden! Rather accidentally, really...I bought a small mint plant ages ago and tossed it in the dirt after I thought it had died, and now it's rampant through my hedges!)

I can't wait to get my hands on some fresh, ripe tomatoes. I think I might give canning a try and make my own pasta sauces and stewed tomatoes.

Really, though, I'm just reveling in the notion that I can go outside and pick side dishes for my dinner from my own back yard!

And of course, I'm loving the sense of satisfaction of being able to say, "I made that."