My backyard receives more sunshine these days (see right of picture above). It’s not because of the lovely sunny days we have been enjoying here in the PNW but because the huge willow tree that used to be in the lot next door has now ceased to be. It is no more. [courtesy of Monty Python]

Although the sun is out, the shadows are still long because of the time of year. I think that we will really see the difference in the next growing season – more sun, more sun-loving edibles to be planted.

In the meantime, I’ve yanked out the zucchini and jalapeno plants which have been fruitful in the grow-bed. In their place, I’ve planted Detroit Dark Red beets, mixed scallions, French Breakfast Radishes and Yu Choy. These germinate fast and are hardy in cooler climes. I’ve set up poultry wire and a tulle cover to keep nosy squirrels out. We’ll see how good that works.

Apart from travel research, I’ve been hitting these books lately to fan my gardening lust flames while the weather starts to cool down considerably:

Carrots Love Tomatoes

I never thought I would have to worry about which plants get along better together. This makes a good reference so I don’t group the disagreeable veggies together.

Heirloom – Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer

Tomatoes are always a challenge to grow in Pacific NW but a true gardener loves a challenge. Tim Stark’s story gives me hope that anyone can stumble into happiness.

McGee and Stuckey’s The Bountiful Container

I have a small backyard but often I find myself turning to containers for a lot of my edible planting. I think everyone should be able to grow their own food even if they don’t have a lot of space. This book has a wealth of information on growing edibles in containers.

This month’s issue of Saveur deals with a topic close to my heart – breakfast. I can eat breakfast any time of the day and that is probably because I grew up having such a variety of delicious breakfast options in Singapore. I drooled when I saw the page that described some favorites of mine – those gorgeous pics took me on a journey back home.

As a result of that journey, I woke up one morning and tried this recipe. I wanted the tender rice cakes called Chwee Kueh, topped with a savory and oily mixture of chye poh (preserved radish), dried shrimp and garlic. Thank you for the recipe, Jas.

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I saw this recipe and had to try it. It is simple and tastes so good. I used apples in this recipe and then added some nutmeg and raisins (sorry, I know some people don’t like raisins with their baked goods).

Perfect with a heaping scoop of whipped cream!

The soft light of a fall evening beckoned me outside to harvest some Tom Thumb lettuce heads. These are about 5″ in diameter. I will make a salad with it tomorrow, maybe with a shallot vinaigrette.

I also collected some calendula flowers to make a salve for burns and itchy skin. I am prone to distressed and itchy skin, calendula is good for soothing it.

I’ve been very happy with the stock tank planters. In less than 2 months, we’ve had plenty of Asian veggies like pak choy and yu choy, chives, basil, strawberries and lettuce. This past week, I sowed more lettuce, pak choy, radishes, scallions and mustard. I hope that means we’ll be harvesting more goodies before the first frost.

Believe me when I tell you that it has been a struggle for us to get back into the kitchen. Life has thrown so many things our way in such a short span of time that we have resorted to eating out a lot. We do enjoy eating out but it is expensive to do so all the time.

Tonight, we try again to get back in the kitchen. We’ve made quick meals and sandwiches but we feel estranged from the hearth of our home.

We did some food shopping last night and marinated some thinly sliced beef for our take on spicy beef bulgogi. It will be served with a side of radish kim chi (katugi), kim chi and rice.

Spicy Beef Bulgogi

Ingredients
1 lb thinly sliced beef (you can use sirloin, chill it first to make slicing easier)
1/8 cup dark soy sauce (light is ok too)
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsp sesame oil
2 green scallions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp Korean chili pepper powder
dash of cooking wine

Put marinade ingredients in a ziploc bag, then add meat. Squeeze out air and seal bag, rub bag to make sure that all of the meat is covered by the lovely fiery marinade.

I’ll share the end results in my next post.

Can you believe that it’s September? Time surely flies when you are not looking. I had a nice long weekend when Mike had his graduation ceremony. His mom was here and we indulged in all sorts of good eats – from croque monsieur’s (madame for me!) to Szechuan pickled pepper fish. On Sunday, I even cooked a little Northern Italian – ragu alla Bolognese, Nutella gelato and marinated zucchini that was fresh from the backyard. I haven’t been in my kitchen much lately, some people blame it on the warmer summer temps but I have no excuse. I lived for so many years in the tropics, for goodness sake! I would like to spend more time in it this month since October might take me away again – for a good reason though – travel!

What I thought would only be a summer fling – my gardening – seems to still be on my mind. I am currently looking for some plants that would be happy in a west-facing border. It is not the easiest spot for plants to thrive. It doesn’t get much sun until the later in the day and then, blasts of afternoon sun. I have some Japanese anemones growing from small 3″ starts and they seem to be thriving. No pretty pink floaty blossoms this August but I look forward to them next year.

Oh, Will Wright’s new game Spore is going on sale this Sunday. Here’s more information about it on NPR. If you like Sim City, you would enjoy this even more.