Egg Rolls, Yarn and Plants

Oh, how to get it all in?

H and I have been very busy, as always. After spending hours shredding old files the other day, we needed a quick trip into town to pick up a few essentials. We had been talking about doing some egg rolls to go along with our frequent dinners of stir fry, so we picked up a package of egg roll wrappers.

A half pound of ground beef was quickly sauteed with a chopped onion, lots of grated ginger and a couple of garlic cloves.

Added to that was a melange of veggies: thinly sliced cabbage, finely grated carrots, red pepper, celery and some bean sprouts that I had sprouted earlier in the week.

Sautee everything together in canola oil, add a bit of red pepper flakes, fish sauce, sesame oil, and soy sauce and then place about 2 tbsp of the mixuture on the egg roll wrapper.

Wrap up, folding the ingredients into the wrapper, pull in the sides and continue rolling. Add to 350 degree hot oil and fry til brown on all sides.

Serve hot with hot mustard, soy sauce for dipping or sweet and sour sauce. These freeze beautifully and when thawed and heated in a 350 degree oven til crisp, are every bit as good as fresh. Of course, we had to sample them to make sure they were freezer worthy. Some of them actually made it to the freezer!

Now, since this is technically a garden blog, I have to post a few photos of my winter garden. Every autumn, I bring in a few plants to overwinter downstairs in my unheated mechanical room.

Asparagus fern, geraniums, tradescantia, spider plant and much more spend the winter down here. They look pathetic by June, but with a few good snorts of Miracle Grow and a bit of sunshine and warmth, they perk right up.

My Bay Tree, which I purchased from Ebay 5 years ago for $4.95, has grown into a lovely 4 foot shrub and is quite happy spending the colder months in front of the office window! I recently received the White Flower Farm catalog in the mail and was quite surprised to see that a puny 24 inch plant in an 8 inch pot was priced at $99!!!

My favorite yarn store, Shirley's had a 20% off sale on all yarns, so being the knitiodt that I am, I purchased enough Bartlett wool to knit two large, felted tote bags later on this winter. To a knitter, there is nothing lovelier than being able to root around one's stash of yarn, dreaming of future projects. Aren't the colors luscious?

And so, another busy day ends for Ms. Giddy and her ever helpful elf, H with another colorful sun setting over the mountains of Acadia.


Life is warm, wooly, and good

Hugs, Giddy