Thanksgiving kicks off tonight with the annual preparing of the Cranberry sage chutney. It is easy to make, absolutely delicious and stores well. Best of all it fills the house with a sumptuous holiday aroma.

Recently, I have been obsessed with the idea of baking banana bread. The things that you miss from home while you are away can be strange especially when the average comfort food no longer does the trick, which makes the cravings for dessert bread even more pronounced. After finally finding a bread pan in Cairo I was after the perfect banana bread recipe, which I found on this website. I reviewed the website after and decided that I wanted to become part of this unique little community of food lovers. I will try and contribute later!

Hello

Have not posted in while but I have been somewhat busy getting various gardens “in”. A large number of people have opted to have winter gardens installed and that is a lot of fun. Winter is a wonderful time to garden in Southern CA. Cool temps and you get to grow all those early to mid Spring veg that do well in out mild winter. Brassicas, lettuces, onions/garlic, peas, sweetpeas, all the Asian greens and choi, celery, artichoke, asparagus, and finally roots crops(beets, carrots, turnips etc).

So think about planting a few winter items in your yard within the next few weeks

John

Yesterday was my birthday and my wife and kids made me a carrot cake. It was the best cake I ever had — and I am not just saying that because my wife and girls made it either. They used Ellen Hauptman’s carrot cake recipe. If you like carrots and you like cake and you like cream cheese icing then by all means try this cake recipe.

Some of my latest photos from my gardens.

And these plants need watering only one a week even though they are in the full California sun. It’s all in the soil!

Ah - that’s the perfect recipe for a broken egg at the end of a long day. Thank you.

I think I will break another one.