flynn070

These rainy, cold, blustery days call for some baking! Apricot Tart The filling, divine enough to eat as a breakfast treat, can be made days ahead and refrigerated. I made this three days before baking the tart and stored it in the refrigerator. Filling 12 ounces dried apricots 2 cups water 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 tsp almond extract Optional: 1 TBS. rum, cognac or kirsch ( I used kirsch ) Optional: 2 TBS thinly sliced toasted almonds (I did not use )  Soak the apricots overnight in the water. Place the soaked apricots and water in a heavy saucepan. Add the sugar and mix. Over high heat, stir the mixture until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover, raise the heat to high again. Stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken and the apricots fall apart. This will take a while (almost 20 minutes for me). You can also slice the apricots as you do it with your spoon. Remove from ...

Dogwood (Cornus kousa) 'Celestial Shadow' The autumn colors here are still magnificent. We have yet to have a freeze and I love how the temperatures stay on an even scale, just dipping ever so slowly. The overnight temperatures are averaging around 40 with the daytime highs around 50. The gray wet weather pattern that dominates the winter season has begun. Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) (seedling) The two Japanese Maples that flank our back deck have been very slow in turning color but all of a sudden they are spectacular. These were unnamed varieties and I chose them mainly because they were large specimens at a decent price. They have put on quite a bit of growth this year. Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood' An existing Japanese Maple in the front yard is "Bloodgood". It too has grown well but there is significent bark damage and I am reluctantly considering replacing it. I would like a taller tree for that spot. It pains me to dig this one up though. Acer palmat...

Blue Star ( Amsonia hubrechtii ) and Geranium 'Rozanne' Salvia 'Amistad' and Mugo Pine 'Aurea' Crape Myrtle ( Lagerstoemia 'Catawba') Snakeroot ( Eupatorium rugosum ) Dogwood ( Cornus florida ) Aster 'Monte Cassino' Cuphea 'Strying Sunset' Panicum 'Shenandoah'  Candy Lily ( Iris norrisii )  Joe Pye Weed ( Eutrochium purpureum)  Lettuce 'Multi-leaf Salanova'  Sourwood ( Oxydendrum ) Salvia 'Hot Lips'  Snowbell ( Styrax japonicus ) Pineapple Sage ( Salvia elegans ) Sunflower Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

After a long hiatus, I think I am ready to get back in the kitchen and back to some Maida Heatter recipes! The weather here is rainy and cooler which spurs me on. I had bookmarked this recipe a long time ago - it is a very light cake (similar to an Angel Food cake) with a wonderfully subtle hint of coffee flavor. Overall, it turned out wonderfully well. One thing I would do differently next time is to chop the chocolate much finer. As she explained in her recipe, the chocolate chips will sink to the bottom if they are too heavy. I decided to use ready-made chocolate chips and they are too heavy. I did chop them a bit but next time I will use a chocolate baking bar instead. That minor flub did not affect the taste of the cake though. 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 1 TBS. instant coffee or espresso ( I use Medaglia D Oro Coffee Inst Expresso ) 1 TBS. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup vegetable oil 7 eggs, separated 1/2 cup Kahlua...

I just returned home this week after a ten day visit to Alabama. The fall color there had not started yet but it is really beginning to show out here in the Pacific Northwest.  Greeting me at the driveway entrance is Kelsey's Dwarf Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea 'Kelseyi'). This small shrub was already here when we moved in. It is located in the most inhospitable site - a dry bed, next to the driveway and road, and in full blazing sun. When I finally identified the shrub, I was told that it is a lover of moist and wet soils. Well, I beg to differ!   More dogwoods - Our beloved 'Wolf's Eyes' which we also grew in Alabama. I never noticed such pink coloring in our previous garden but it is definitely pink here. It has suffered from sun scorch but it appears to be growing and it bloomed spectacularly this spring. Dogwood 'Celestial Shadow' is another tree suffering from too much sun in our shade-deprived garden. The existing dogwood in the back, the pin...