Molly Ringwald

Am I dating myself when I say that Pretty in Pink along with 16 Candles defined my teenage years? I love this dress Molly Ringwald's character made...truly a D.I.Y. moment...

Martha Stewart Living magazine recently published a short essay written by Molly Ringwald about her love of gardening. I think it was written just for me...my teen idol and gardening? A match made in heaven.

In the essay entitled "A Garden Grows Up", she shares her heartache over losing a pregnancy and how she found solace in her New York City rooftop garden. In her words;

Then, nearly six months later,

the unthinkable happened:

I lost the baby. I found almost

nothing to fill the emptiness—

no books, no films, no theater, no

people. It was a very solitary

sadness. To my surprise, the one

thing that did make me feel a

little better was venturing up to

the roof alone and putting my

hands in the soil.

And so I set about rebuilding

the garden myself. I hauled

bags of dirt up the six flights of

stairs, stripped the trellises,

and painted them chartreuse.

When it came time to plant, I

couldn’t settle on a color scheme,

so I chose all of them. I planted

pink fringed tulips that resembled

little girls’ dresses and a

large maple tree with kelly green

leaves and coral bark. Perhaps

inspired by her new surroundings,

the peach tree made a

miraculous recovery, producing

enough fruit for one whole pie!

My garden became a destination

for many of my friends,

but on September 11, I was there

alone, surrounded by my

trees and flowers, watching the

towers come down.

Molly Ringwald's second book, When It Happens to You: A Novel in Stories (Harper Collins) came out on August 23,2012.

 Thanks for being such an inspiration!

 

mary mary quite contrary...the harvest

Best tomatoes EVER! (don't mind the water spots,I had just watered before I picked a few of these lovelies) We are eating the fruits of our labor..literally every day now and loving it. It reminds me of the story of the Little Red Hen. I think I identify with it because even as a child I know that I was a hard worker....I love the message that If we work together we will reap the benefits.

Enjoy the fruits of your labors whatever they may be...

mary mary quite contrary...week 10-11

Happy August! It has been hot and sultry around here for weeks (months really) which is a little strange for Utah. We usually have monsoons this time of year and we haven't had much to speak of. The end result is our little garden is stressed. Okay and maybe the mom is a little stressed too! Back to school/back to reality is looming and I don't think any of my chicks are ready for the summer to be over. I will welcome a little cooling off though, and so will the tomatoes. I harvested my first tomatoes last night, along with a glorious bunch of basil. THAT we don't have a shortage of. The green bell peppers are just about ready to be picked and enjoyed as well as the the cabbage (and used for fish tacos maybe?) The cucumbers and red peppers are off to a slow start but fingers crossed they will be ready soon too. And we have lots of herbs. Still waiting on the squash in all it's variety. A little rain and maybe this week we will start to enjoy the bounteous harvest that we have all been dreaming of!

The old window frames I picked up a few weeks ago are doing their job..and looking cute at the same time. It's hard to have perfectly peely paint and hold-up squash at the same time.

come see me over here for wow us wednesdays!

Lavender Love...Lavender infused Ginger lemonade

This is a little photo inspiration from the Lavender fields in Mona, Utah. It's not Provence but for $5.00 a bag you can pick as much lavender as you can use! Here is a recipe for Lavender infused Ginger Lemonade from the AMAZING Culinary Crafts catering. They are 9x "Best of State" winner. But really, who's counting?!

Ingredients:
5 cups cold water
3 lemons-juiced and zested
1 cup granulated sugar
1 T ginger, peeled and sliced
fresh lavender sprigs

Method:
Combine all ingredients and let sit overnight. When ready to serve, strain the lemonade to remove the ginger and lavender pieces.

To make the lemon garnish:
Thinly slice 5-10 lemon slices. Cut a one half slit from the center of the lemon wheel to the edge so it can fit properly on the glass.
Zest 2T fresh ginger

To make the candied ginger:
Mix 1 cup pure cane sugar to 1 cup water into a small pot.
Boil the simple syrup mixture in a sauce pan until the syrup has reduced by 1/3 the volume.
Remove pan from the heat and stir in the zested ginger.
Let the mixture soak for 15 minutes.
Remove the zest from the syrup and lay the candied ginger on a sheet pan.
Wait for the product to fully dry. While the product is still wet, dust with a heavy coat of sugar. Let dry overnight.

Roll the lemon in the candied ginger:
Roll the rind of the lemon first in water and then roll the lemon into the candied ginger pieces.
Place the product in the oven on parchment paper (bake at 350) just enough to dry the lemon out and produce a crisp product.(dehydrators can also be used)

To serve the finished product:
Fill a glass with lemonade. Garnish with the ginger lemon slices and a sprig of fresh lavender.

Enjoy!

mary mary quite contrary....week 7-9

Have you ever noticed how when you want something to grow and you watch it and baby it along it grows at a snails pace? ya that didn't happen this time...we went on vacation and came home to an explosion (the good kind) in the garden. I intended to stake everything vertically to save on space and let's be honest who doesn't want to look taller and thinner? My plan mostly worked, except for a few wrinkles, and by wrinkles I mean a certain heirloom tomato plant.

old window frames

 I couldn't quite find what I wanted at Home Depot, So I checked the junk area of one of my favorite vintage/consignment store and found some old window frames. I popped out the glass and scraped off the old paint. These are being used to "stake" the squash.

 I use geen twist ties that I found at my garden center. I also am experimenting with garden velcro.... crazy but true! It is made to be reused, but my guesse is I won't try to after everything dies back and is cleaned out for the season I will just toss it. It seems to work and I really like it for keeping the squash in line. Maybe I should velcro my kids to keep them in line?

just glorious....

I was cruising (fellow blogs) not State Street, and came across a beautiful and inspiring gem. Glorious Treats is a bounty of mouthwatering recipes sure to make any baker want to put on an apron and preheat the oven. I was particularly impressed with her recipe for zucchini bread. As I read it, it brought back memories of my grandmother's kitchen. They always had a bountiful zucchini harvest and bread was just one of the many ways we would eat our veggies! As we planted our variety of squash this year in the garden, I was hoping to harvest enough for my grandmothers bread...I might just try Glory's recipe also...As If that weren't enough, Artful Blogging magazine featured Glorious Treats in their Summer issue....Congrats! 

Doesn't this make your mouth water?

mary mary quite contrary....week 6

We had some unexpected but welcome rain this week. My dad used to call it "free fertilizer" I'll take it...We should be harvesting and eating juicy tomatoes in a week or two!

I added a few pictures of the "help". The peaches are going to be amazing. They are sharing their spot with some Scarlett Hollyhocks.

Hope your Summer is sunny and sweet!

mary mary quite contrary... week 5



Our little garden is growing and all the plants have blossoms..thank you bees! It has been really warm here the past few weeks, after a beautiful Spring, I guesse I shouldn't be suprised, but by late afternoon some days the plants are getting a little droopy. No worries, everything perks up as soon as it cools off.

We did have a little drama as we were weeding and checking on the progress a few days ago. I brought my little Bischon with me (I thought maybe a photo op of her looking cute in the garden) Instead she got dog-napped! She was in the front yard doing some inportant business and an older man drove by and though she looked lost? he put her in his car and drove home. Fortunately for us she started to bark and we found her a few hours later not far from my mom's house.

 Strange but true! All is well, let's hope for a drama free garden week!

For some garden eye candy check this out.

mary mary quite contrary...week 3&4

Our Garden is growing!

I don't know what it is about watching something grow that you planted, but it is very fulfilling. I am combining progress reports (sounds like Jr. High school) from week 3 and 4. Mostly because I have been working hard on the design of my blog and taking an e-class over at Decor8, and I haven't been posting as much as I would like. Blah Blah Blah... Enjoy the pix!





yellow heirloom tomatoes

sometimes a girl just needs some alone time in the garden.

All of my encouraging (the garden) is staring to pay off. No more "garden envy" here!

   

 Heather

mary mary quite contrary...week 2

our first tomatoes..



cabbage patch..not the doll!



Week 2...Project Garden

Everything is growing and growing. I spent a little time weeding and staking the tomato plants. At some point everything that CAN be staked will be. A bit of an experiment, but then isn't a home garden just that? The weather has been perfect for growing. I was having a little "garden envy" as I would drive by other backyard gardens this past week. It seemed that everyone's tomato bushes etc. were bigger and bushier and well, prettier than ours. But, We had a little chat (the garden and I) and I think we are just a week or so behind some of the others. Nothing to be ashamed of....Do you talk to your vegetables? 

Heather 

mary mary quite contrary...

We started with grow boxes full of hopes and dreams of fresh salsa, cauliflower mash, and enough heirloom tomatoes for caprese salad...okay and some very FRESH horse manure that Cooper and I mixed in to perfection. If you have never planted a garden by committee, I highly recommend it. Especially If your "right hand man" really is a handsome man (child) gasp! Is he really almost 16 ?! The garden is being tended and watered very lovingly by my mom and her husband, Bob. I visit as much as possible. But when I can't, I get almost daily updates. I think the best part of our Family Garden is that we all share in the work and we all will benefit from the fresh and juicy veggies

 (I hope). 

  

Planting Day

Heather