Everything you ever read or hear about bulbs is clear: plant them in the fall. They need a season of cold in the earth before they’ll spring to life again in the mud of April. And that was my plan. Fall planting. I thought a lot about it, I looked at some tulip bulb catalogs… [Read more]
Archive for January, 2012
Online Seed and Plant Sources
(image) If you live out in the country with a big SUV, getting plants is easy. You just drive on over to the local garden center and, boom, seed packets, palettes of plants, dirt, containers… You walk through the well-stocked nursery, load it all in your vehicle, and DONE. It’s harder in a city. For [Read more]
Ring in the Year of the Dragon with Pork and Shiitake Potstickers
Gong xi fa cai! That’s Happy New Year in Mandarin, and here at Spade & Spatula, we wish you a most prosperous, fortuitous and altogether auspicious 12 months ahead. Chinese new year, also known as the “Spring Festival” was always a celebration the Arumugam family actively participated in. Malaysians love a good party – and [Read more]
Mushrooms on the Mind: A Simple Supper of Beef and an Earthy Medley
I often think of mushrooms in the dead of winter or the tail-end of fall when my autumn wardrobe has conceded to my thickest sweaters and most downy (read: duvet-like) coats, and fashionable footwear has submitted to sturdy boots. There’s something so comforting and hearty about their meaty, chewy texture, their seemingly endless spectrum of intense earthy [Read more]