June 13, 2021- More of the same

Katie and family depart today. It has been a nice two weeks. 

But it was hot and dry the entire time. Hot meant into the lower 90's. Every day was the same. Dry meant 0 rain. Katie learned where all the splash pads were in Iowa City.

This is the second time this garden year we have gone 2-3 weeks without rain. In between those times there was decent rain, so the grass is still growing. 

I am watering a lot at this point. Mostly it was so hot I really did not feel like pulling weeds or doing much, if my body would have put up with that.

I am actually feeling a little better at this point. I have had some back/neck problems for about the first time in my life. I do understand that I have to restrain myself from trying to do too much.

It is an exciting time in the garden. The daylily scapes are showing. I expect the first flower this coming week. The lilium are also starting.

The orchid cactus did bloom for Christopher before he left.

The Shirley poppies continue to put on quite a show.

How about these pictures from this week?

This flower might be my favorite so far. Each plant  has 4-5 buds per stem. That means when a nice one comes along there will be more of that color combination.

I like this next picture with the combination bud and flower.

The lilium have begin.

This rather dramatic Asiatic lily showed up on Thursday. They do nicely in part shade, at least for a few years.

Julia's recipe

Asparagus soup

In asparagus season, one wonders what else can be done with it, after it has been roasted, steamed or grilled, stir-fried with chicken (or beef) or made into salad. The answer: soup. This soup is cooked and so served warm but it could easily be served chilled (just some time in the refrigerator). The recipe is adapted from Greene on Greens, an old-standby in our kitchen from the 1980s. I have made it a bit lighter (who needs whipping cream in vegetable soup? Not me.) and easier (who needs to peel asparagus? Again, not me). 

The ingredients:

1big bunch of asparagus;

1 5-oz. box of spinach;

1 cup diced onion;

3 tablespoons cornstarch;

4 cups chicken stock;

1 cup half + half;

2 tablespoons butter (not shown for some reason); some salt and pepper and a bit of cloves. 

First I washed the asparagus and broke the spears where they would break. 

I have tried the cut-the-bottoms-off-all- at-once-the-same-place method, and it doesn't work. I end up with some inedible ends. Just break them off. 

I cut the spears into chunky pieces and cooked them (medium heat) in the chicken stock until tender which took maybe 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears.  

Then I fished the asparagus bits out of the stock with a slotted spoon.

Next, I added about 1/2 of the package of spinach to the broth. The spinach cooked for only a minute or two. 

(I used the rest of the spinach for salad. It could just as easily all gone into the soup.) 

I removed the spinach with a slotted spoon and added it to the asparagus. I poured the chicken stock into a bowl. 

I melted the butter in the now-empty pot and added the onion. I cooked the onion on medium until it was soft, adding about 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper and maybe a scan teaspoon of ground cloves. 

I added the green vegetables back to the pot, stirred them around for a minute or two and added the stock back into the pot. I let it simmer for maybe 5 minutes.

While the soup was simmering, I mixed the half + half with the cornstarch whisking it until it was smooth.

I added the cream/cornstarch mixture, brought it to a boil over medium heat and then turned it off. 

Last, I took my stick blender to it, after which I checked for salt and pepper both of which were needed. Mostly the resulting mixture was smooth, but there were a few asparagus stringy bits. This did not bother me.

If one wished to avoid such stringy bits, one could peel the asparagus OR strain the soup. 

On the table. 

In the soup plate. We had egg salad sandwiches, green salad and blueberries with yogurt. 

The soup is good cold the next day.

If you are feeling fancy, you could garnish with chives or thinly sliced scallion tops. With or without a dollop of sour cream. 

Stay cool. 

Odds and Ends

We retired the duck guard for the pond yesterday. I expect the first flower any day now.

I transplanted the first zinnia seedling this last week. I am still appreciating how the back yard has more sun after the derecho took out some of the top of the sycamore tree.

Be safe.

Philip