Sunday, March 2, 2008

Sweet Peas and a Bloody Mary

Wow, today the temperature moved above 60 deg. How fabulous to go outside and feel the breeze gently touch one's cheek--not impale it.

Here's what I did this morning:
Note the Bloody Mary in the background: I highly recommended poking about in peat pots with a nice tall vodka-n-tomato juice at hand.

It will be awhile before these wanna-be Sweet Peas and Delphiniums land in my garden. Here's what it looks like now:

I love sweet peas but haven't been terribly successful with them in the past. I was inspired by the beautiful gardens in the March/April issue of Cottage Living, and so I'm giving them another shot. I know that spring is still far away, but on a day like today I can't help but look forward! Other plans: My youngest son is keen to try tomatoes, too this year, and I am considered buying Himalayan poppies--so gorgeous but unlikely to survive in this gardening zone. Hmm.

The directions on the Seed Starter say to put the tray, for now, in a warm place away from direct sunlight. So for now my little Sweet Peas-to-be are living under my buffet.

Before I sign out, I wanted to share a great drink I discovered in the March 2006 issue of Domino, but just tried for the first time recently--My husband and I love it. Here' how: infuse a teabag of Jasmine Green tea in a bottle of vodka for 24-48 hours (I normally drink Ketel One but for this we used a cheaper vodka, and it turned out fine). Remove teabag and chill bottle in freezer. When chilled, serve straight up in a martini glass with honey and a lemon twist. My husband drizzles the honey in a swirly design on the sides of the glass before he pours in the infused vodka; otherwise it sinks to the bottom and doesn't add much to the drink.

4 comments:

pve design said...

Olive-oil had a baby named Sweet pea! Oh what a blustery Winnie-the-pooh morning and your post makes me think of Spring and how I would love to have a bloody mary brunch with good friends!

Decorno said...

I used those potting tray doohickies last year and they worked perfectly. My only mistake was traveling for work one week and trusting my other half to keep up the watering/remove-from-too-hot sun campaign. Better luck next time, for me.

This time, I will plant while drinking. I like your strategy.

Caffeine Court said...

Okay-that Bloody Mary looks so good-I want one NOW!

And I love your house-it looks so inviting and you have amazing taste.

Tickled Pink And Green said...

Okay to show you how completely clueless I am about gardening/whatever, I read this post and thought you were doing some cooking of some sort of pea dish. I actually stopped to wonder what all that brown stuff was that looked like dirt, and how that helped you cook peas. I'm not joking.

Okay, to give myself some credit, you did have your kitchen in the background. Lol.