Gardening and Cooking

It has been a long, cold winter here in Canberra and Spring is finally starting to settle in. The rain has returned and everything is turning green and growing like crazy. Flowers are blooming and the temperature is perfect for sitting on the deck and enjoying lunch in the slightly crisp weather. The only bad thing is that my sneezing has definitely increased - the price you pay for Spring I guess!

We started a veggie and herb garden in the back yard - something we have been planning to do since moving in almost two years ago so I am glad we finally got to it! When I say "we" I really mean Brent - I took pictures and fetched gardening tools and he did the back-breaking work - can't complain about that deal!

I like to cook most of the time, but Spring puts me in the mood to really cook! It is also good weather to start up the bbq again which is a good thing because Costco here sells Tri-Tip! Non-Californians probably don't know what this is - it is an amazing cut of beef that is so tasty and for some reason isn't really eaten outside of California. Even my siblings in Utah and Texas can't get it! I am not really sure why they sell it here, I have never seen it in Australia before, maybe it is because the US Ambassador is from California. For what ever reason, I am very happy!

So just going to post a few pictures of things around the garden and a couple of the things I have been cooking up. Hurray for Spring!



Tri-Tip and Brownie Cookies with Peanut Butter Mousse Filling (recipe here)



Brent planting the veggie garden and some nice flowers with a pretty bird in our backyard