Winter 2012

It's always hard to believe just how quickly each season passes.  Winter has officially arrived and what remained growing in the garden has finally fallen under it's spell.

Collard greens, kale, leeks and parsley were being harvested well after Thanksgiving.  Today, in fact, I will attempt to harvest what remains of the leeks so they can be used to make a quiche for Christmas breakfast.  Quiche Poireaux aux Champignons (leeks and mushrooms) with the recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I look forward to the house smelling of sautéing leeks.

I've eaten quiche many times over the years and each time I've thought 'I'd like to make a quiche' but have never done so.  Leeks from our garden, grown from seed no less, Christmas breakfast, and Julia's wisdom create the perfect trinity for my first crack at quiche.

Merry Christmas and a joyful, healthy, adventurous and fruitful new year to you!

Winter blooms

Amaryllis

Chet can be difficult to photograph.
He rarely stands still.

UPDATE:  The leek harvest was successful.  The leeks were beautiful and quite flavorful.  The quiche was also delicious.  Yay!

Harvested leeks.
They sat inside for several hours to allow the soil to warm up as well as dry.
This make it much easier to separate the leeks from the clump of soil.

Chet sampling a leek frond.

The fragrant break-down.

Cleaned up and ready for slicing and sautéing.

Alas, I neglected to photograph the freshly baked quiche.  You'll have to trust me -and Julia's recipe- that the quiche was fantastically delicious.