Li'l Garden Bunny

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Hello Dear Readers,

As promised in my April article in Acreage Magazine, here is the pattern and instructions for creating your very own

Li'l Garden Bunny. 

This little bunny is small, adorable, and can be given as special gifts to your children, your friends, your mom, or anyone who enjoys celebrating Easter with bunnies.

When seated, she is only about 5" to 5-1/2" tall.  This makes it really easy to display her on a table-top arrangement for your Easter Dinner.  Here, my Li'l Garden Bunny is perched on top of a bunch of decorative kale, with some other spring flowers and ivy for added interest.  

If you have any problems downloading the pattern, or have questions while you are making your Li'l Garden Bunny, just drop me a line at KatesOrganicLiving@Gmail.Com and I'll be happy to help you out.

Happy Easter Everyone!

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Autumn Musings - Time for Nuts!

I can't think of anything that immediately makes me think of home, family, and holidays any more than a big bowl of fresh, unshelled nuts.  We have always bought nuts in this form, and part of the tradition of cracking them open and separating out the meats that broke from the ones that stayed whole was just a step in the process.

You see, the whole meats would be carefully placed at the bottom of the fruitcake pan so that when the batter is poured on top, it is baked, and then turned upside down, those carefully placed nuts become part of the decoration of the cake.

It didn't matter too much if the meats were broken, because we needed to chop nuts for everything else, like pies, adding them to date nut bread or pumpkin nut bread, or to our secret family fudge recipe.

My son now collects nutcrackers, mainly because I shop for one for him every Christmas.  My daughter danced in the Nutcracker ballet. Nutcrackers have always enchanted me, and I never knew if it was because they were so unique and enchanting, or because they helped to extract the nut meats from their sturdy shells. Truth be told, I never wanted to use a beautiful nutcracker to crack nuts.  I rely on the old standby, the basic metal nutcracker and pick to remove the meats from the shells.

For more detailed information about different types of nuts, go to my article "Nuts about Nuts" at Acreage Life Magazine that is linked to this posting, I have two really nice and easy recipes that you might want to try.  One is for sugared nuts that you can eat just as a sweet, or you can put them in salads.  The other is an almond and goat cheese spread that you can eat on toast or crackers, or use as a sandwich spread.

No matter how you use them, nuts are a very healthy food, and while they do contain a lot of fat, it is a good and healthy type of fat that your body will thank you for.

Potatoes

Pretty much every culture in the world uses potatoes in some form or another. They are a very healthy part of any diet, and contain vital nutrition that our bodies need.

See my Spuds article from Acreage Magazine, September 2010 issue for more information about the origin of potatoes and how they came to be that tuber we eat today.  There are a few recipes included in that article that you might want to try

Personally speaking, I think that the potato has been given a really bad rap.  What with the recent advent of "low carbohydrate" diets, people have been turning away from the potato because they believe that its starch will be unhealthy for them.

On the contrary, the potato is an especially healthy food, and should be incorporated into your daily diet

Some of you may have heard that green potatoes are dangerous. This is true.  Because the potato is a member of the nightshade family, its leaves are poisonous.  Potatoes that are left in the light for an extended period of time will begin to turn green.  This green color is due to the development of solanine, which tastes bitter and can make humans sick. If you have a potato that has a green portion, simply cut off that potion.  The rest of the potato is absolutely fine to eat.

Although there are thousands of varieties of potatoes, there are essentially two types of potatoes:

• Boiling
• Baking 

Baking potatoes are usually longer, and have a very thick coarse skin.  These potatoes become quite fluffy when they are cooked, which makes them exceptional at baking, but causes them to break apart when you try to use them in a soup or stew, or for potato salad.

Baking potatoes are often called "Idaho" potatoes.

Boiling potatoes can be elongated, or they can be mostly round.  Their skin is thin and waxy, and they retain their shape when they are cooked, making them perfect for adding to soups, stews, and for making potato salad.

Yellow-skinned white boiling potatoes

Red-skinned boiling potatoes

Boiling potatoes can be elongated, or they can be mostly round.  Their skin is thin and waxy, and they retain their shape when they are cooked, making them perfect for adding to soups, stews, and for making potato salad.

I've often been asked if you can grow potatoes from the ones you get at the grocery store.  You certainly can.  However, these are often sprayed with a chemical to prevent eyes from erupting, which is how the potato begins to grow.  If you use organic potatoes and a few of them begin to sprout eyes, you might consider trying a small potato patch.  Cut the sprouting potato into chunks with 2 - 3 eyes per chunk and bury them a few inches beneath the surface of well turned soil. Growing potatoes is a really great activity, and it is especially fun to get your kids to help with the process.