A few months ago, I made a treasure seeking trip to Scott’s Antique Market to hunt for large, old, beat up containers for my deck container garden.  My favorite location, Love Train Antiques, was just loaded with goodies.  I loaded up my car, drove home, and unloaded the fabulous containers in the garage.

Here in Atlanta, spring has finally sprung. So last weekend, I weatherproofed my containers, popped holes in the bottom, brought them up to the deck…..and voila!  Spring lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, herbs, carrots, radishes and peas are now planted.  Thanks to Tony, my irrigation guy, all of the containers also have great drip lines in them which are connected to my irrigation system – the one that DOESN’T operate when it rains, just like it’s supposed to.

Here are some photos.  Happy Planting!

View at Picasa 11-Apr-2010 17:13, Apple iPhone 3GS, 2.8, 3.85mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 84

View at Picasa 11-Apr-2010 17:13, Apple iPhone 3GS, 2.8, 3.85mm, 0.042 sec, ISO 77 View at Picasa 11-Apr-2010 17:13, Apple iPhone 3GS, 2.8, 3.85mm, 0.042 sec, ISO 80 View at Picasa 11-Apr-2010 17:13, Apple iPhone 3GS, 2.8, 3.85mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 72

The Mamas had dinner last night at One Midtown Kitchen, a wonderful local restaurant that specializes in using local produce and meats to perform its amazing kitchen magic.  We sat on the terrace, and enjoyed one of those beautiful Atlanta springtime evenings.

For our appetizer, we shared an order of Fried Fiddlehead Ferns.  Fiddlehead Ferns are those green curly cue vegetables that are harvested in the early Spring.  They are actually not vegetables on their own, but are the early shoots of regular ferns.  They are also a great source of Vitamins A and C.

Our dish was fried in a tabasco tinged cornmeal breading – and served with a few dollops of sweet and pungent gorgonzola cheese.  Man, was it good!  Since the restaurant uses only fresh, local ingredients, you should go have dinner there now so you can taste this scrumptious dish before it goes out of season.

Sushi Salad

One of my favorite Atlanta caterers is Sandra Bank at Added Touch Catering.  Added Touch Catering offers everything you need for your upcoming event. They are a full service caterer, offering excellent CUSTOMIZED menus and award winning table design.  Providing the highest quality food, service, and decorative items – and an incredible service staff – Sandra is always being asked for recipes for her amazing creations.

Here’s one of my favorites – Sushi Salad.  Enjoy!

Chicken paprikash is an old time Hungarian stew – rich in flavor, beautiful in color, and easy to make.  It’s a great weeknight meal, and if you make enough, you can have leftovers for another meal.  I like to serve it over rice, but the traditional way is to serve it over egg noodles.  Enjoy!!

INGREDIENTS

1 cut up chicken

1 sliced onion

1 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon paprika

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 thinly sliced red bell pepper

1 can of diced tomatoes (14.5 ounce) with juices

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

2. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat.  Brown the chicken skin side down about 4-5 minutes.  Turn over for another 3 minutes.  Transfer to a plate.

3. Drain most of the fat from the Dutch oven.  Cook the onion and bell pepper for 2 minutes.  Add the broth and stir, cook for 1 minute.  Add the tomatoes and paprika.  Bring to a simmer.

4. Put the chicken back in the pot and put in the oven for 30 minutes.

5. Serve over rice, noodles, or polenta.

Not actually DO gardening, it’s still too cold, the risk of snow and inclement weather is still too great.  But it’s a good time to start thinking about your garden, and considering what to do this year that’s new, different, or just the good ol’ same.

I started my gardening reading with an inspiring story about the Leopoldo Urban Vegetable Garden.  It’s a small, flat-pack recyclable steel structure which makes garden easy and fun.   What makes this small gardening space so inspirational is that it is starting to be used as a therapeutic tool in hospitals and clinics.   You can read all about it at Treehugger.com.

And start dreaming about your fresh tomatoes and herbs.  It’s never too early.