Our Little Grapefruit Tree

Our little grapefruit tree has had 2 fruits so far--one each year.  This photo was taken in March, and shows the large grapefruit on the teeny tree.  The variety is Rio Red and the tree seems quite healthy despite the fact that it has not grown too much yet. Perhaps I should have not let it fruit and concentrated on growth these first few years.

The tree has been a magnet for snails the last two months, and here in California the rains have continued.  Normally by now the rains would have stopped, but the wetness is creating a terrific environment for snails and slugs. The fruit is much yellower now,  almost ready to pick.

 

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Fried Sage Leaves & Feta Cheese

Along with fresh-squeezed orange juice from our tree, we enjoyed these scrambled eggs (from our hens) with fried sage leaves (Berggarten sage--a cultivar used in cooking with large leaves) and feta cheese. It was awfully good.  I'm starting to get a bit addicted to fried sage leaves--we also had them the other night, served on top of some lemon roasted chicken.

Here's a photo of breakfast:

Rhubarb-Strawberry Custard Pie with Meringue

Last night I made this pie, a variation from a recipe in Joy of Cooking.  The only problem with it is that our rhubarb is a green variety with only a bit of red on the stalks, so that when mixed into the custard the greenish-yellow color is a bit off-putting. That's why I added some strawberries to this, to help with the color.  Last time I made this pie, it was all-rhubarb (the Victoria rhubarb we grow in our garden), and the color unfortunately has led to our daughter refusing to eat rhubarb.  I'm hoping to some day win her back.

Here's what the pie looked like:

Pasta with Spring Garlic, Favas, and Meyer Lemon Sauce

This is a slight variation of a recipe by Annie Sommerville in her cookbook,  Fields of Greens. I cooked up some fettucini in a large pot.  In a separate pan I sizzled spring garlic in olive oil, added frozen sliced peppers from Trader Joe's, as well as some fava beans from our garden.  Later I added the zest and juice from one meyer lemon as well as pepper, salt, and minced Italian pasley.  After draining the pasta, I added it to the hot skillet with the vegetables, stirred things around a bit, and then served the pasta in a large bowl, topped with shredded parmesan cheese and some fresh chive blossoms, also from our garden.  Voila!


Here is what it looked like:

Favas!

The fava beans have grown to be huge, and the time has come to pull out the plants and to finally get my summer garden planted. I've been busy making a kind of fava hummus by preparing the favas and mushing them well, but not too much, adding garlic and olive oil and then enjoying this spread on some good Italian bread.

I recently saw a recipe that uses a meyer lemon sauce and fava beans  and your choice of other spring vegetables--such as asparagus-- mixed into fettucine pasta.  Sounds delicious and I think I'll try this this weekend.