RECIPE OF THE WEEK: TZATZIKI
One of the things I have grown to love since we moved to Yakima is lamb. I don't think I had ever had lamb before we moved here and I am not even sure it was readily available back in Lumberton. But not too long after we arrived in Yakima, we went out to eat at a nearby Indian restaurant, the Taj Palace. I got a meat sampler platter and on it was something I could not for the life of me identify. Linda tasted it and told me it was lamb. I was hooked! Now I like to have it whenever I can, but the only kind of lamb I have actually tried to cook is ground lamb. I went online and found a recipe for Lamb Kofta with Tzatziki. What a wonderful dish this is! The tzatziki really makes it, so I decided to make that my recipe of the week. The main reason I am growing dill and mint is so I can make this recipe. The recipe I use is from the Kitchn and you can make this using either lamb or beef (click here for the recipe). Below is a picture of the ingredients used in making the tzatziki and what the finished product looks like. I'm not sure if I like the way tzatziki tastes as much as I just like saying the name.
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| Ingredients for Tzatziki |
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| Tzatziki |
TRAGEDY IN THE GARDEN
I was a day late getting my blog posted this week, and there is a story behind the reason why. Sunday morning when I went out to check on the garden, I found that my little Zavory Habanero plant was half-eaten up and something had nibbled on all of the marigolds I planted around in the garden. Now, the Zavory Habanero plant was one I grew from seed and it was my baby. I was so excited to be able to have this "less-heat" Habanero in my garden this year. In addition to the little Habanero being munched on, a Tequila Sunrise pepper and a Delicata Squash plant were also severely eaten. I never seem to know what varmint is doing this when it happens, but I guess I should have known better than to put such tiny plants out in the garden. I did the only thing I could think of and that was to put some organic slug & earwig bait around all the peppers and squashes. On Monday morning, the little Habanero & Tequila Sunrise were eaten down to one leaf each, and one squash plant was entirely gone. I didn't know what else to do since I do not use any chemicals in my garden, so I just hoped that whatever was doing it would stop. WRONG! Tuesday morning dawned with the little Habanero and Tequila Sunrise plants COMPLETELY gone as well as all nine of the marigolds, plus part of a second squash plant with bites out of the leaves. So, that afternoon I made a natural, organic bug spray concoction to use. It is made from water, onion, garlic and cayenne powder, and let me tell you, it forevermore stinks! It stunk up the entire house! We had all the windows open and fans going, but finally we both gave up and decided to sit outside! That night I stayed up until dark-thirty (which around here is 10:30 this time of year). I went out with a flashlight and crawled around on all fours to check out each pepper plant, but all I saw was one lonely earwig. I made him pay the price for my little Hab and Tequila by spraying him. I also sprayed all of the pepper and squash plants really good. No need to spray the marigolds as there were only stems left of them. By the way, this spray is not harmful to the beneficial insects if you use it at night when they aren't flying around. All of the aforementioned activity put me going to bed after 11:00, which is unusually late for me. And to top it off, at 3:30 I awoke from a nightmare that ALL my pepper plants shriveled up and died because I had sprayed them! It took me forever to get back to sleep. I got up around 6:30 Wednesday morning and went out to check on things, fully expecting my peppers to be a mass of dead plants. To my relief all the peppers were still there (except the Hab & Tequila, which didn't miraculously reappear). They and the squashes didn't look any worse than the night before, but I'm sure I did. I was so tired from not sleeping well that I pretty much vegged all day on Wednesday. So that is why my blog was late this week. I did have a backup Zavory Habanero plant that is now in a pot, on top of a chair, in the garden. I don't think I will plant it in the ground.
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| The foul bug-killer concoction |
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| The hapless little Hab plant before its demise |
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| The backup Zavory Habanero plant |
ADDING TO MY ADDICTION
Last Friday, before all the drama with the bugs, I went to the Farm & Garden Center to get some Impatiens to plant in a pot for our front porch. Of course I couldn't help myself so I came home with four more pepper plants. These were California Gold Bell peppers, which I have grown for several years and they really produce well. Besides, Linda loves them so that was reason enough for me to get them. I had to plant them over near the tomatillo since I didn't have room near the other peppers. So far, they haven't been eaten up, but I'm keeping my eye on them.
TRIP TO DMV
This morning I got to spend some quality time with the people at the DMV Licensing Office. Since my birthday is next week, I had to renew my license before then. This year I am getting the new Enhanced Drivers License so it will pass muster when going through security at any airport. I certainly don't plan on flying any time soon, but you never know. Although the whole process took an hour, it was not a bad experience and everyone there was courteous and helpful. Just as an FYI to any Washingtonians reading this blog, you will need to upgrade to the new Enhanced License before January 18, 2018 (the current deadline), as the regular Washington license will not be acceptable for airplane travel after then.
PARTING SHOT
Whenever I'm out in the garden, Summer Girl is usually there to help me. Here is a picture of her "helping" me this past week.
That's all for this week. Here's hoping there is less drama in the coming week. During the summer, I may be a day or so late getting the blog posted due to so much going on, so be sure and check back later if you don't see it at the usual time.
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