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Archive for the ‘Kitchen Inspirations’ Category

the art of food

Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged beauty, colors, cooking, dinner, eating, food, gardening, grief, Inspiration, musings, Photography, recipe, recipes on July 29, 2026| 2 Comments »

I must say that it is hard to eat these days. No worries. I’m not wasting away. My survival instinct is pretty strong and when I need to eat I most definitely track down some food. What seems to resonate most right now is intensity of flavor. I’ve been disappointed a few times of late when I order something spicy and it is not spicy to me. I’ve been reading how taste buds, as well as appetite, can be affected by grief/loss. Mostly I cope at present by thinking about food creatively. I look out on the porch and see what’s there. The basil I gifted but the jalepenos I’m using. And then there’s the hot and spicy oregano. I’m trying out a marinade of oregano, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and so on on some salmon tonight. We’ll see.

Given events of late I did not fertilize the tomatoes on the porch enough. Lots of foliage that smells wonderful but not much fruit. Just one ripe one so far and I decided today to purposefully slice and drizzle it with olive oil and white wine vinegar and some sea salt and black pepper. You see what I mean? Intense flavor. It was a lovely appetizer. And yes I know it was only one small tomato but the exercise I think helps to reawaken the taste buds.

Didn’t photograph the baked salmon but the portion I had was good. Needed more hot and spicy oregano and maybe some lemon. On the porch the pepper plant still flowers, there are tomatoes that are small and green and I will endeavor to give them a bit more love. Tarragon, rosemary, thyme and the various oreganos. As the summer season progresses I think there will be plenty of opportunities to be creative and stir the tastebuds … and still to gift on occasion. 🙂

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pinching the basil

Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged gardening, herbs, Inspiration, Photography, storytelling on July 24, 2026| 3 Comments »

I’m doing my best this morning to channel Steve as I pinch the basil. My first thought when I looked out on the porch this morning was, “What the hell am I going to do with all this basil?” I’m certainly not in the mood or mode to make pesto though he taught me well. Clearly the pots needed pinching, stems growing long and tall toward the sun. Some were beginning to feel firm to the touch, getting barky. No flowers yet so this was a good moment theoretically to dive right in.

The first time I watched Steve pinch basil … removing topmost shoots on the plant so that the plant redirects energy to growing bushier and increasing yield … I was horrified. I told him he was scalping the plant to within an inch of its life. He shook his head and said, matter of factly, “This works. You’ll see.” I did.

So this morning with cup of coffee by my side, I sat on the porch and pinched basil. I’ve decided to split the harvest in two. Soon I’ll make my way into work. I hope my two colleagues will be pleasantly surprised by their culinary gifts. Have a good day!

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this summer …

Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, Uncategorized, tagged beauty, colors, container gardening, flowers, gardening, Inspiration, musings, nature, Photography on July 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

… there is no rhyme or reason to the gardening on the porch/patio. It is a riot of colors and styles.

Each morning I rise to peek out and see scattered dirt as the squirrels rise earlier then I do and begin their daily quest for food.

I’ve let the backyard go. The only that will be harvested from down on the ground will be garlic planted last fall. When I look down there is the afternoon light I can see many happy baby bunnies nibbling at all the weeds and things that are overgrown. I do appreciate the perennials that have come back and have no bunny-appeal.

While I do feel bad about the yard, I am glad about the porch. There’s an increasing number of patio-specific fruits and vegetables and its been fun learning about those. And, of course, of course, there is still room for plenty of basil for future pesto making.

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i must say i’m not sure …

Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged gardening, Inspiration, mint, nature, Photography on June 28, 2026| 1 Comment »

… how the chocolate mint wound up in my cart or the strawberry mint. I’m beginning to think one should never go to a garden center when one is hungry. The challenge is that I am not a huge mint fan as I’ve grown older. I’m afraid that if the garden center had had ginger, cinnamon, orange and apple mints, as well, I would have come home with them too! Interesting thing about mint is that it is hardy. So what do I do with it? I think it was nostalgia that made me pick up the plants. Growing up in Virginia I remember wild mint growing and making some tea … after I washed the ants off the plants. Apparently these mints are great for flavoring desserts, teas and cocktails. Steve and I don’t do cocktails but friends and coworkers may be receiving some unexpected gifts. We’ll see. 🙂

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the borage …

Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged flowers, gardening, Inspiration, nature, Photography on May 29, 2026| 1 Comment »

… survived the initial bunny attack and is somewhat thriving. Maybe bunnies don’t like the taste of cucumbers.

The pansies survived the birds snipping off its flowers to decorate early Spring nests.

The potatoes are thriving in their bucket nestled amidst the weeds.

And the scapes are forming on the garlic. Not sure how much more will be planted on the ground this growing season but feeling good about what’s out there right now.

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here is what I have to say

Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged colors, fanciful, food, food poetry, fun with words, gardening, Inspiration, nature, Photography, poetry on May 2, 2026| 2 Comments »

One of my favorite poems is This is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams. I thought of that poem as I stepped out onto the porch today and picked some greens. He ate plums. I picked some swiss chard. 🙂

Here is What I Have to Say

I’ve been eating

the swiss chard

from a pot

on the porch

just like a rabbit

nibbling a few leaves

at a time

so delicious

crisp and crunchy

colors bright green

and oh yes the ruby

all divine

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culinary therapy

Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged cancer survivor, culinary therapy, food, Inspiration, musings, Photography, storytelling, stroke recovery on March 2, 2026| 2 Comments »

What I continually learn on this journey with Steve as a cancer and stroke survivor is the power of meaningful and functional engagement with the world. Do a physical exercise just to do the exercise, no matter how good it is for you? Nope. Need to help do tasks to feed family and friends as you’ve done all your life? Oh heck yeah! Someone was fiercely determined to grate the roma tomatoes for a big batch of no-cook pasta sauce. He gave it a good effort but those tomatoes were tough so out came the knife. Big chunks to toss in the blender along with garlic and celery. Success with the slicing … except, as I turned around, I noticed someone eating the tomatoes and so his sous chef position was temporarily revoked.

Later we did the taste test. I wanted to add salt (I always do) but Steve said, “It’s good as it is.” And so that’s how we served it up for dinner with some items on the side, sliced leftover chicken, sauteed mushrooms and mozzarella cheese.

Go team! 🙂

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blizzard pesto

Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged colors, comfort food, food, Inspiration, pesto, Photography on February 24, 2026| 1 Comment »

I shall call this “blizzard pesto.” As the snow blew sideways yesterday, Steve picked the basil. This morning we made the pesto. It is garlicky and cheesy and we’re serving it with some black pepper pasta for dinner. Given the state of the world, I have to say, we are grateful for these moments, and flavors.

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garden therapy

Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, colors, family, flowers, garden, gardening, healing, healing gardens, herbs, Inspiration, musings, nature, Photography, plants on July 15, 2025| 8 Comments »

There is a blue jay that likes to sit upon the porch and pound peanuts into any bare earth it can find in one of my pots, most often the pot of marigolds. A dove will occasionally land and then fly away, a fleeting guest, not like the mating pair that tried to nest on the porch during the pandemic. Now that I’ve added some pots of long willowy grass, lemongrass and zebra, sparrows will do a curiosity flyby but have not yet landed that I’ve seen.

I’m tempted to put out a water feature but that might attract more than birds. I am quite pleased with the porch this year. It was garden therapy i thought for Steve but it has surely been for me as well. I tell people I think I have reached capacity in terms of adding more containers but even as I look out the door now I can imagine one or two more containers just ‘cause. It is primarily a culinary space with many pots of basil, mint, lavender, thyme, rosemary and oregano. I added the lemongrass for height and texture though I know it is used in cooking as well.

I keep telling Steve the violas are edible but that’s a lost argument. Most attractive to me at the moment is the lavender. I’m sure for Steve it is the basil which he just pinched yesterday and we made a small batch of pesto for dinner.

I think of it as a mini-healing garden. I learned of the concept on my journey with Steve these past few years, sitting with him or by myself, in the rooftop gardens of different hospitals. Due to recent mobility challenges Steve had not been able to sit out there though he helped plant many of the containers. I call those Saturday mornings at the kitchen table surrounded by dirt our indoor gardening time. He pots the plants and I position them on the porch. He could only look out but of late we’ve learned of these things called suitcase ramps and voila he is able to sit in our little garden.

He doesn’t crave it the way that I do. We’ve discussed the fact that, in Virginia, I grew up in a porch culture and he most certainly did not. When he does sit out there I hope there is some benefit to mind and body. It is mid-July and the violas are fading. New opportunities await for filling some containers.