Phaedra's Adventure

[Cosmo spring garden]

I am just catching up on this thread and I am so amazed! Not surprised because I've come to realize how talented you are. You have worked hard! I hope the Cafe is a huge success!
Question, what does the name of the Cafe mean in English?

2nd question: can I come live with you just long enough to learn how to make things beautiful?

 

[Phaedra]

Question, what does the name of the Cafe mean in English?

It means "Daily" - I hope it's a daily scenario that people will like to participate for a piece of cake, a home-grown bouquet, some fresh salad and sandwich, coffee, and herbal tea.

 

[Phaedra]

I am just catching up on this thread and I am so amazed! Not surprised because I've come to realize how talented you are. You have worked hard! I hope the Cafe is a huge success!
Question, what does the name of the Cafe mean in English?

2nd question: can I come live with you just long enough to learn how to make things beautiful?

As @baymule said, we are all neighbors thanks to the internet and TEG.

 

[Phaedra]

As usual, Friday is the day we always go to Lidl and pick those 3Euro veggies and fruit bags. I usually take two, but when there are many of them, I take three.

Let's see what we got this time. Isn't it crazy? The new veggies and fruits already arrived, so they have to quickly pack the not so good looking ones into such bags; otherwise, they might all end up in the trash piles.

They are not perfect - some like this that has some damages, but no one will be willing to buy them; some are pretty ok, but just less appealing than the brand new batches, like those leeks or lettuces.

As a gardener, we are so used to the imperfect crops. These only cost us nine Euros, no need to mention how much I peeled and shared with hens and quails.

A small 'mountain" of all kinds of trimmings - I guess, less 1% directly reported to the compost heap.

Some I used the food processor to chop them finely, and some I cooked with a bit minced meat.

Hens are happy!

Another discounter often has 50% off flowers and plants. They are all good, just as mentioned, less appealing than the newly arrived ones.

I picked two bunches of roses with less than two Euros, and a few of them have pretty robust stems. Who knows, maybe one or two of them might survive and revive from a cutting later? Two-euro roses in a One-euro IKEA vase - the delight they brought isn't less than a two-thousand euro bouquet in a one-thousand euro expensive vase.

 

[Phaedra]

Well, as we have many bananas again from those Lidl bags, I decided to make a charming banana bread, but in a form of a layer cake. The batter was poured into four shallow pans, and I assembled them after they were fully cooled down. I reduced 35% sugar but added some cranberries and oatmeal for a richer texture.

I sprinkled a bit sugar on the banana slices and caramelized them with a hand torch for decoration. The icing was made with leftover dark chocolate ganache and heavy cream.

I used the lemon zest grater to get some dark chocolate on the top and added some blueberries. It's done!

From bananas to such a comforting cake, I feel happy for those bananas.

Recently, I watched a Japanese TV program about cooking and found one para so convincing for me. A quick translation might like this:

"Cooking is sincerity itself; there may be areas where skills fall short and times when ingredients don't meet expectations, but your sincerity in cooking always counts."

I will say, the banana cake was made with sincerity.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

I have no words ready. Just a deep soulful sigh for the stunning beauty of your creations...

 

[Phaedra]

I have no words ready. Just a deep soulful sigh for the stunning beauty of your creations...

Thanks for your compliment.

 

[Phaedra]

I pricked out another four seeds (sow on Jan-28) to the module tray, and there are still two lettuces in the seed tray, maybe tomorrow.

The two module trays that were done earlier - the seedlings are obviously doing well. This is the photo taken under the solar lights after I switched off the power for the greenhouse. After cleaning the glass, the greenhouse looks like a giant aquarium.

I sow swiss chards, lettuce(Forellenschluss, Old Austrian heirloom; the name means “speckled like a trout". A superb, gorgeous romaine lettuce that is highly splashed in deep red. Very beautiful and tasty), one cauliflower, malve, sugar peas, and another few leafy greens. Besides, I sow two trays of micro-greens. ,

Mosses I picked today, aren't they just lovely? I will find more tomorrow.

My FIL enjoys Tiramisu I made - he is in a good shape (and mood) recently, especially with his new best friend and whenever we bring him sweets.

 

[Phaedra]

Got some discounted cut flower roses from Aldi today

For the discounted price less than 6 Euros, I would say it's a good deal.

(Left) Lidl cut flower - miniature roses
(Right) Aldi cut flower - roses, my true targets are their stems

Let's see

This lady is officially my pet now, living in the greenhouse. I decided to let her freely explore the space outside her own apartment.

When I am working in the greenhouse, she can have some free time. I made a small cage and in the future, she can go to the garden with me.

A temporary residence for the mosses

Hahaha, a lot of fun!

The MUM bonsai, unfortunately the main stem died, but the mosses seem doing ok.

Fruiting

 

[akroberts]

Such beautiful pictures. The food and roses look great. The people in your town are so blessed to have you there.