I am nearly finished with the December/January selection for the Garden Bloggers Book Club. This was my first time to participate, and I was excited because I love good books. A good book about gardening is even better. However, about twenty pages into Dear Friend and Gardener, by Beth Chatto and Christopher Lloyd, I thought, I'll never get through this. Being experts in their fields, Chatto and Lloyd mostly used Latin names for plants they discussed, instead of common names. For me, this was a hindrance to reading their letters. When I write articles or post on my blog, I use both Latin and common names, although I know that Latin is more specific. Instead of putting the book back on the shelf, I decided this was an opportunity to learn. With my laptop in one hand, and the book in the other, I spent the first half of it...

My friend, Mary Ann, suggested I write more about the origins of my garden. My first thought was "Oh, no, I want it to be perfect and in bloom, and I don't have any good pictures of it like that." I wonder why. Could it be that gardens like everything else in life are never perfect? I revised my thinking. Ego aside, if I wanted to show structure, winter would be best. My first country garden (in 1990) was a rectangle. It looked like everyone else's garden space, efficiency with no style. Note: a rectangle isn't very efficient anyway. Vegetables grown in straight rows don't produce as much bounty. Then I subscribed to Kitchen Gardener magazine. From the first issue, I felt like I'd finally met "my people." People who grew beans up poles, and tried interesting vegetable varieties like Lemon cucumbers and heirloom tomatoes like 'Cherokee Purple' or 'Arkansas...

We had a scrumptious feast a week ago Friday. It's taken me this long to gather my information. Thanks to Kacee for having the dinner at her house and for helping me remember wine details. I'm sharing this with you for two reasons: The meal was entirely gluten free and for me, dairy free; and It was prepared with lots of fantastic fruits and vegetables, many of which were grown locally. Locavores rejoice!! Last March, at the Birth Choice of Oklahoma auction, five couples pooled their resources and purchased a dinner to be prepared by Father Shane Tharp, the pastor of St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, located in Prague, Oklahoma. Believe it or not, Prague is pronounced with a long "a." I don't know why. It's just an Oklahoma quirk. I was really looking forward to this meal because we've known Fr. Shane for a long time. He attended the same...

The page was mottled and creased from use, but over a year ago, I'd closed the book on one of my favorite recipes after being diagnosed gluten and casein intolerant. This morning, with time on my hands (since we're attending mass tonight with the our trappers) and a rumble in my tummy, I decided to pull out my copy of The Breakfast Book, by Marion Cunningham and try to adapt one of the recipes so I could eat it. When my daughters each ate two, I knew I'd succeeded, so I decided to share it with you. GFCF Nutmeg Muffins 2 cups of gluten free flour mix (I used the one from Gluten-Free Baking Classics) 3/4 cup sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 whole nutmegs, grated* 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon xantham gum 2 eggs 7 tablespoons Earth Balance Baking Sticks, melted 1 cup unsweetened almond milk Preheat oven...