Spring pokes through

Azalea blooms

Our brief, unreasonable, Spring/Summer lasted about two weeks, ending with Super Bowl BBQs in a summery 81 degrees. We are now back to almost normal. The morning temperatures hover at freezing, the mid day temperatures a smidgen above 60 degrees.This week it should start raining again. La Nina is a puzzlement this year.

 I am moving on in spite of the weather. I received my onion starts from Johnny's Seeds 

The first Narcissus

 and planted them in a new raised bed That was before I read an article in the Vegetable Gardner. The premise in there is that seed is the better way to go. (Johnny also has seeds). So, this year I am doing both. My determination stems from the fact that I have failed in onions three years now.This bad spell was preceded by one year of onion abundance. So abundant that I used them, gave them away and then caramelized six or eight quarts to use for several years after. With the sets planted, I put the seeds in flats. They have sprouted and have been put under the fluorescent lights. If I don't get good onions this year I will give up on onions forever. 





Shy Violets

One of the spring chores is to go through all the seeds you have and see what needs to be ordered. I was never sure if my seeds had gotten too old or not. But, of course, there is an authority for that; check Margret Roach's A Way to Garden . There aren't many answers that can not be found on line.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Spring also brings us Chinese New Year. A nice thing about that is it's celebrated for about two weeks. My kind of holiday. Now, if you have had all the Dim Sum and Stir Fry you need, lets turn to dessert. Dessert in Chinese cuisine is not as we do dessert but they do have sweet things. I saw this in a Chinese food shop in Honolulu once and thought I could do it at home. It is surprisingly easy. Won Ton Pi translates to won ton skin. In today's market they are simply called "wrappers". They come in several shapes. Either the round or the square will work here.  Do be careful to separate them as some come in twos. The recipe will yield about 60, the usual number in a package. Check yours to be sure.


Honeyed Won Ton Pi

3 nickle size slices of fresh ginger

1 cup mild honey

2 1/2 tablespoons butter

About 60 won ton wrappers

Enough oil to fill the pan/pot about 1 inch deep

  preferably peanut oil

Place the ginger slices in the bottom of a pan wide enough and deep enough to hold the honey mixture and a fried wrapper. With a wooden spoon or pestle, grind down the ginger until it juices and becomes somewhat shreded. Add the honey and the butter to the ginger and gently heat over low flame. When the butter has melted give it a stir to mix in the butter.

Set up a draining system. You will need a paper lined plate for the wrappers coming out of the oil. You will also need a way to drain any excess honey. I use a rimmed cooking sheet into which I place a cake cooling rack. You can wedge the honeyed wrappers into the spaces in the rack, allowing excess honey to drain off.

Separate the wrappers into individual pieces.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees.

Honeyed Won Ton Pi

Fry the wrappers to golden brown, turning once. They should fry less than a minute, total. Remove to the paper lined plate and add another batch to the oil. while that batch browns, dip each of the previous batch into the honey mixture and drain on the rack. They should still be warm when they go into the honey. These are best served soon but can be kept in an air tight container for a day or so. 

Recipe Notes:
Well wrapped leftover wrappers will hold in the freezer for a month.
Leftover honey mixture, rewarmed, will be great on waffles or pancakes and on biscuits.

Personal Notes: Our Beef Stroganoff recipe has been republished over on the Yummy newsletter. That is flattering. Aside from the news regarding SF Bay Area restaurants, you will always find a few recipes that are real keepers on those pages. If you pop over there remember GraceAnn is great on her SanFrancisco tours. She does several and each is eye opening, tummy satisfying and a lot of fun.