In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours. -Mark Twain

i guess one could say that i've been pretty dormant, like the weather, since i haven't updated this in months and months.

days ago we made (pineapple) chutney. were inspired by the samosas i made that i used the Moosewood cookbook recipe, for. the recipe for the samosa dough is SO GOOD. i've tried it before w/out the yogurt and the last few times i've made them w/the Silk plain(unsweetened) soy yogurt and it is so much better that way, go figure that using what the recipe actually calls for is a lot better than not...
we kind of just made up the chutney recipe...
samosas:

Filling

• 2 large potatoes, cooked and mashed
• 1 cup finely minced onion
• 2 medium garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh gingerroot
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (I use dry mustard)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 cup diced carrot, cooked till just tender
• 1/2 cup cooked green peas
• cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 lemon, juice of
• 2-3 tablespoons butter

Pastry

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/3 cup yogurt
• water

there's still a few feet of snow...argh.

i'm finding conflicting information about the appropriate time of year to prune fruit trees. we have 3 fruit trees that didn't die and are more than a year old at this point. so, i think that the beginning of April is when it should happen...?

this year we plan to purchase a tiller b/c we did not borrow one last year and the results of trying to hand-till our land is frustrating and tiring. plus, time consuming.

also, we have so many seeds leftover from last year and we've tried to keep them stored pretty well, so i hope they work out even though it's highly predicted that "old seeds" don't work as well. if not, we'll just pick up some starts of the basics at a local garden store...

we'll also get to put to the test my ability to not kill dahlia bulbs over a winter...i hope i stored them okay b/c they really are gorgeous.

we have ONE catnip plant that is alive and well, despite getting knocked out of a window and chomped on no less than a dozen times. preventative measures have now been taken...this may or my not involve Jake bringing it w/him to work for his office...everyone has an office plant,right? and it's usually catnip,yes?

sage, dill and cilantro are the extent of my winter herb gardening...better than nothing?

there.