This blog post is a bit of a departure from my usual fare of food, preparing food, listening to music, or a combination of all of the above. Although, I suppose this entry did begin with a food function. So I guess the reality is - it's still all about the food. But to be more specific, it's all about the functional gardens at Franklin Park that surround the AEP Education Pavilion on the new community gardens campus. Hopefully, you can see from these photographs just how beautiful these gardens are. And the coolest thing about them, is that the produce grown in the garden is used in their many cooking classes.
I was privileged to attend a Filipino cooking class with a friend. She is one of the many people who helps organize the Asian Festival each year. As an extension of the festival, several Asian cooking classes are being offered at Franklin Park. I had never been to a cooking class there before. Let me just say it was lovely. The facility is very nice. And the class was a lot of fun. There was a Spanish wine, a simple salad with cucumber, tomato and mango in a rice vinegar dressing, Lumpia (mini-eggroll of pork, shrimp, water chestnuts and mushrooms), Filipino Adobo with rice (pork cooked with bay leaves, garlic and peppercorns), and Pancit Bihon (rice noodles, pork, cabbage, carrots and shrimp prepared in a wok). Let me just tell you it was yummy eating!
The previous two photos were taken in the vegetable portion of the gardens. The first is of some lettuce while this one is of cabbage-obviously. Generally speaking, I am not a huge fan of cabbage. But I find that lately I am becoming more tolerant of the taste. I might even be beginning to enjoy the taste. And you know, as we get older, more and more of out taste buds disappear. Maybe that is part of the reason why I like stronger flavors now.
Flowers. I am not even sure what type of flower this is but I thought they were beautiful. White is not my favorite for flowers but it does make for a nice contrast with the foliage.
Once again, I have no idea what these petite lovelies are. But here they are in my blog for your viewing pleasure!
Okay, I know what these are! These are one of my favorite flowers which I cannot for the life of me grow in my yard. I am sure it is because of the fact that my whole yard is shaded. But I find it totally frustrating. And yet every year I keep hoping my irises will do more than grow incredibly tall.
Clematis.
These are my favorite flowers. I love peonies. I love them in all colors and styles. They remind me of my childhood. In fact, I have an heirloom peony planted in my yard. When an older family passed away, her children dug up one of her peony plants, divided it and shared it with many family members. Mine has grown like a house on fire for the past couple of years.
So in a way this blog entry, in fact my entire blog, is about things that I love. So in a way, it is fitting that I end with a flower that I love - the peony. The peony is big. It is magnificent. It is layered. It can be messy. There is sure a lot to love there. Sounds a lot like life.
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