Tuesday, March 21, 2017

It's Almost Spring!


Actually, I guess it is spring. 

Hello!

I know it's been awhile, but I'm feeling ready to get back in the swing of things. There's something about spring that's just so inspiring for me, I'm starting to burst from wanting to share recipes and photos again. Winter is my least favorite season, it always feels bleak to me. I know there's many wonderful things about winter, and I appreciate them... for awhile. But then I'm ready for renewal. I love when the early daffodils pop, when there's buds on all the trees, when I start seeing juvenile cardinals and gold finches at the feeders again. It's magical. I have a few items in my garden that just pop up all on their own, like little gifts from nature. Such as my chives, above. They just burst from the ground one day, green and beautiful, full of hope.



Yeah, that's right. I've already harvested some chives this year ๐Ÿ˜‰

The impending arrival of spring (we're still having fairly wintery nights here) has me a flutter. I'm even ready for all those dandelions-


After all, they're one of the first foods of the season for our bees. I've counted a handful out in the yard already. 


๐ŸŒผ = Happy ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ 



Mariota is ready for spring too. Bring on that sun! ๐Ÿ˜Ž


Double stretch before they go outside ๐Ÿ˜


Spring means gardening. I'm soooooo ready! I started my tomatoes on March 15th, and I've already got lots of little sprouts. Go little tomatoes, go! The hubby is away for the week on business, otherwise I'd be out in the garden planting lettuce, onions, and carrots. That'll be next week's activity, I'm guessing. 


I've been doing some work while I've been away. Not as much as I would have liked, but maybe that's what I needed. I've actually been working really hard on my first fiction story. I say first because although I've started writing a lot of fiction stories, I've never stuck with one until the finish. But I did it! Right now, it's about the length of a novella and I'm not sure I want to make it longer. I was mentioning to the hubby that I liked the story as is, and he suggested maybe it was time to just start a completely new story and make that one longer. I like his suggestion. I mean, ultimately, there are plenty of stories out there that are the length of novellas ๐Ÿ˜ƒ So, working on that story took a lot of priority over the break. That being said, I need a break from the editing process. I've read my story at least a hundred times, I thought a couple of days away would be just what I needed. There's something to be said for sharing the simple every day things like I do here.

And here's something I've been working on almost the entire time I've been away- fish.


Not every day is perfect for the food blogger. Sometimes your cod fillets stick to the pan and then completely fall apart while you curse your bad luck. Sometimes this happens 3 times in a row, even after you've made little adjustments. It's times like those that I'm thankful for wine๐Ÿท๐Ÿ˜– I actually had to work this dish 4 times before I got it perfect. I'm happy to say that this dish has finally been completed, and I've figured out many tips for the perfect sear on fish. Which I will be sharing soon. 

The hubby is going to be so happy not to come home to the smell of fish for awhile! 


A little something I picked up for food blogging- bitters. A very important element to craft cocktails which my brother and his girlfriend specialize in. If I want to recreate one of their recipes, bitters are likely to be in them. Now, if I could just track down some of the specialty liquors they use... who wants to mail me some Amaro Nonino? ๐Ÿธ

I'm totally kidding on that one, it's illegal to send booze to Kentucky ๐Ÿ˜‚


I'll leave you with this sign that was just put up down the street from us. I don't know about you, but I see this as permission to do a rolling stop at 5 mph. Right?? Put up the arrow sign, but there should be no speed limit. It's a stop sign. 

SMH. 

All right folks, it was some good time away. But it's spring now, back to the food! ๐Ÿ”๐ŸŒฎ๐Ÿฅ—๐Ÿช

12 comments:

  1. Yea you are back! I missed you and your receipes. Interesting thing Jessica, I too have spent some time this winter writing a book. Mine is Children's book. This weekend we are taking 3 copies to the post office. Sending them to 3 different publishers. Fingers crossed So happy you are back! !

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    1. Wow! That is really, really cool! I had no idea you were working on a children's book. You'll have to keep me updated as to what the publishers say. I'm flirting with the idea of publishing mine, but it's just an idea right now ๐Ÿ˜ Good luck, and like I said, keep me updated!! ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป

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  2. Good to see you back! Looking at your fish makes me hungry, so it's time for some breakfast!

    Congrats on finishing a novella. Have fun starting on your next, longer book.

    Have a happy spring ~ FlowerLady

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    1. It's good to be back! And it was tasty fish, even if it did stick ๐Ÿ˜‚ Thank you for the congratulations, finishing that story was definitely an accomplishment for me!

      Happy Spring FLowerLady! I hope you are having an awesome week!

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  3. I am ready for spring and it is already that here! We really didn't have much winter to tell the truth. I've been wearing shorts around the house for a month. I can't wait to get out and dig in the dirt - I'm waiting a little because I don't want my flowers to bloom too early and then be dead too long! :)

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    1. Our winter wasn't too rough either, we didn't get any snow to speak of. We did have a cold spell this month, but I'm hoping that's behind us. That might be wishful thinking ๐Ÿ˜‚

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  4. I'm glad you're back and looking forward to hearing how you stop the dreaded fish tearing issues. Love the stretching pups!

    xo

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    1. Thanks Rue! I love those pups too, any reason to share pictures of them! ๐Ÿ˜

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  5. Glad to see you are back! Very interested to hear more about your fiction writing!
    Chives, already! Good, that means I should be seeing green soon :)
    Those road signs? What in the world.. Are you sure you aren't in Wisconsin, lol!

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    1. I was so surprised by the chives just popping up! Except they really made me feel like it was spring and I want to plant all kinds of things! LOL.

      Oh, that road sign. I get a giggle every time I roll through it ๐Ÿ˜‰

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  6. My parents just got a few pounds of inhabitants for the hive my dad got for Christmas. It will be interesting to see how that goes! Winter always drags me down too, even the holidays aren't enough to make it tolerable. Dark, gray and cold are not my kind of days at all. I can't take too many before I just want to crawl in a cave and hibernate until spring!

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    1. I've loved watching all the bees come out in the spring. Beekeeping is tough, you lose a lot of bees which can make me sad. But it's still so interesting. And you sound like me with winter, haha ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

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