Time to talk of other things ...

Building a Garden at a Community Centre serving Immigrants A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust. ~ Gertrude Jekyll . Victory gardens first appeared during World War I (1914–1918) when President Woodrow Wilson called on Americans to plant vegetable gardens so as to thwart the looming threat of food shortages. Droves of Americans took up the challenge as a civic and patriotic duty. Gardeners were encouraged to plant high-yielding multiple-harvest vegetables that took up little space in their gardens, such as tomatoes, peppers, squash, corn and herbs. This grassroots gardening effort was revived again during WWII and by May 1943, victory gardens supplied 40 percent of the produce in America. Fast forward to today. With the pandemic disrupting lives, gardening is one of the best ways to get exercise and fresh air with all the social distancing precautions.   The glory of gardening: hands

Christmas Tree Baubles Christmas tree ornaments or baubles come in a bewildering shapes and materials. Over the years my better half has patiently collected an enchanting set of baubles. It takes a very special person to curate a collection one piece at a time over a period of thirty years!! Nothing ever seems too bad, too hard, or too sad when you've got a Christmas tree in the living room. ~ Nora Roberts Some Christmas tree ornaments do more than glitter and glow, they represent a gift of love given a long time ago ~ Tom Baker The first decorated trees were adorned with apples, white candy canes and pastries in the shapes of stars, hearts and flowers. Glass baubles were first made in Lauscha, Germany, by Hans Greiner (1550–1609), who produced garlands of glass beads and tin figures that could be hung on trees.  Soon artisans started heating a glass tube over a flame, then inserting the tube into a clay mold, they'd blow the heated glass to expand into the the mold shaped as f

The exquisitely piquant Mexican Salsa Verde I believe in the magic of preparation. You can make just about any foods taste wonderful by adding herbs and spices. Experiment with garlic, cilantro, basil and other fresh herbs on vegetables to make them taste great. ~Jorge Cruise Salsa verde (Green sauce) is a type of spicy, green sauce used mostly in traditional Mexican cuisine made of tomatillo (also called Mexican husk tomato), green chili peppers, onions, garlic and herbs. Tomatillos are from the same family as tomatoes, but really they are more closely related to the gooseberry.  Be warned, while most salsa verde sauces look absolutely the same, they vary in overall spiciness. Some recipes use extremely mild chilies. This recipe amp up the heat with jalapeño peppers or its hotter cousin the serrano peppers. This recipe uses broiled tomatillos, rendering a deep charred, almost smoky flavour that mellows the tartness.  Tip: Instead of an electric blender use a stone mortar and pestle. A