To bring you dinner! Nothing terribly fancy here, some shrimp boiled this afternoon, then chilled for dinner. (The boiling concoction included water with beer, spices and lemon.) When it got “about that time” I picked a shirt tail full of fresh peppery arugula and mustard greens, which I tossed with a simple orange vinaigrette; I then placed the dressed greens in the middle of a platter and arranged the chilled shrimp around them. Dana grilled two easy skewers of fresh pineapple pieces with wedges of sweet Vidalia onion while I made a quick cocktail sauce with ketchup, horseradish and lemon. Easy-peasy and crazy good.
This has been a busy season! The snow pack in the mountains is about 200% of normal and not melting due to persistent, cool weather. It’s been compounded with lots of rain in the valley and more snow in the mountains. All that snow is keeping the weather on the chilly side and gardening is LATE this year. I took this on the way home. These are the mountains to the east of us and then to the north of us.
Crazy, huh? Still, it’s beautiful and a little cold rainy weather is NOTHING compared to the weather that some are dealing with.
Meanwhile, back at “the farm”, I got a very special birthday gift this year. Dana quadrupled my garden space and made me three new raised garden boxes! I’ve been busy planning and planting and today I went to Hooper’s Garden Center to get some peppers and a few other things that won’t make it from seeds this year. This nursery is a landmark around here – owned by the Hoopers since 1973 and loved by all, it’s a fun place to go. I looked at their website and found out that since purchasing the simple business, they now have 16 greenhouses, a large retail house, garden shop, production area, seminar room, seasonal bistro, and a houseplants area. While you shop you can enjoy free coffee and cookies – aka lunch. I quickly finished my list and then some, but wanted to share a few shots of Hooper’s. The outdoor area enjoys a gorgeous backdrop of the Swan Mountain Range and the greenhouses are amazing and endless.
I came home with a couple of new things to try – purple Brussels Sprouts and CELERY for crying out loud! Will let you know how that turns out. 
I’ll be photographing the new garden when it gets a little further along.
Happy Birthday Vickie!! I saw your beautiful raised beds as I was driving away Saturday & I was IMPRESSED!! Your blog was Lovely as usual, I hope you have had a wonderful weekend long celebration of your 36th birthday
Love you, Michelle
Thanks, Michelle! You are officially on my zucchini recipient list, come late July.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I cant wait to see your garden…
Thanks, Christo! I can’t wait to see what I can grow, either. Wish me luck.
Summer is FINALLY arriving here in the midwest this week. So maybe it’s on its way to you next.
I try not to get too worried about it up here until June. Hey wait a minute ….
I am so jealous of your garden. Around here our soil is so hard and dense that I have a hard time digging a hole for tulip bulbs, but I still enjoy visiting the garden centers. When we lived in the UK every center had an elaborate cafe if you felt the need for an emergency coffee or sandwich during your shopping. I love that. I can’t wait to see all the great things you grow.
Hi, Karen! I live on a deer-infested pile of rocks, so I feel your pain. That’s why the raised beds with a big fence around them was such a great birthday present.
I really hope to grow a lot, but I’m still learning.
Well you’ve got two of us in the South Metro Denver area jealous as heck over this garden of yours. And, what a great garden center. I think your shrimp and arugula lunch sounds and looks just wonderful. I’ve not tried the orange for vinaigrette yet… what’s up with that? We’re having similar weather, running the heater to warm up the house in the mornings and then able to open windows about noon. Our snow pack is getting ready to flood low lying areas this week. We’ll be at 90 degrees by tomorrow and Thursday. Hello Summer … what happened to Spring?
Hugs my friend and big birthday wishes to you.
Hugs back to you, LA! I would love 90 degrees, but we don’t have A/C, so thank goodness that doesn’t come until late July.
I used a Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar that Rebecca brought back from Trader Joe’s to make that vinaigrette. O.M.G! I love that Pure Orange Oil and a little honey to flavor a vinaigrette for arugula.
Wonderful, Vickie! Great looking dish…and love the photos of the nursery – it looks like a fun day trip! It’s even rainy and cold here in NorCal and still snowing in the Sierras I hear…strange weather – but like you say, nothing compared to the challenges elsewhere.
Enjoy your new gardens – I look forward to seeing them grow!
Happy 28th birthday!
Thanks, Nancy! I too look forward to seeing them grow. Hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate. It’ll be an adventure either way, right?
As they say – it’s a journey
BTW – we had your Yum Yum Yams last night. Well – guess we had Michelle’s – and they were totally wonderful!!
Aren’t they delicious? And pretty much guilt-free . . . I love them!
Your simple meal is just my kind of thing! Can’t wait to see your new garden and all the goodies you’ll be making from it.
Happy Birthday by the way! Don’t know you you are suppose to do a post to announce it so we can all come flocking over to say happy birthday on your special day!
The mountains are so gorgeous and Hooper’s looks and sounds like a really great place!
Your style of posting is exactly the kind of feel I eventually want on my posts and the posts of those linking up to my new weekend beach parties I want to be virtually visiting with friends not just checking out a recipe.
I always feel like I’m really visiting with you when I come over to your blog
Aw! You always leave the nicest comments, Martha! Thanks for liking me and my little blog. Have a great week and wish me luck on the 2011 “crop.”
Looks like a fine dinner to me Vickie, especially when you get to go pick part of it. You won’t believe this, but I’m so tired of the ever increasing warmer weather around here, I was on line searching for real estate in your area for a place to spend May-Sep. Only problem is I’ll have to do it alone as Bev has no interest, so it’ll likely just remain a thought in the back of my mind.
I believe it, Larry … this town is a pretty popular destination for snowbirds. I never thought I’d live in the mountains -more of a beachy kind of person- but I love it up here snow and all. (with the exception of February. That’s when I’ve had a bellyful of winter.).
Ok, so I’m jealous. The pictures are wonderful and the the food looks delicious! I just hope the deer stay away from your celery. And yes, I was dead serious about building a Burmese tiger pit for the deer getting in your garden. Imagine having a nice venison roast with fresh garden veggies!!! Love ya
Thanks! I used the point-and-shoot in the garden center since I carry it in my purse at all times.As for the deer problem, the huge wire fence should work – thank you. I can just see Dana having to retrieve me from a pit. LOL, remember when you built a mini tiger pit to keep the neighbor girls from crossing our side yard? . . . and I fell in it and scraped up my shins?? It wasn’t funny at the time, but it’s sure funny now. You’ve laid down some strange karma, Son.
xo
That’s what I call a fantastic dinner! And a fantastic garden center as well. The weather has been way too cold to plant a garden, but things should start to improve before too long. I will head straight for the geraniums.
I love geraniums, too! There are some gorgeous ones out there this year.
The shrimp and all looks great and what a great place to shop for plants! We should have planted last weekend, but the rain has been non-stop. Today is the 2nd sunny day in a row that we’ve had, so we’re hoping to get everything planted before tomorrow, when it’s supposed to rain again :/
Hasn’t the rain been relentless? My mantra has been, “at least it doesn’t blow our houses to smithereens like the weather in Joplin.” Helps put it in perspective. I have covers on my beds, so I’m able to “hothouse” the tomatoes and peppers. Still, I’m crossing my fingers. Here’s to some sunshine!
Happy Belated Birthday! I wish we could expand our gardening space. After seeing Larry’s HUGE garden last weekend, my puny garden is unsatisfactory, ha ha.
Larry’s garden would make any of us feel inferior – just remember, it’s not the SIZE of the garden . . .
Happy belated birthday! I love these scenic pictures … of the landscapes as well as the food. I never knew Montana was so lovely.
Montana is pretty amazing – I think that’s why we have the motto “The Last Great Place.”