Watercress, Tomato, and Feta Pasta Salad

Watercress grows plentifully in the stream by my mother's house (zone 6). She found a calm part where the water flow is very gentle, very minimal, and has propagated a little watercress colony.

She brought over a bag of fresh watercress recently and I obviously turned to Pinterest to find a recipe to use it. This little salad was super simple, easy and quick, and used some interesting blanching techniques that I'd never tried.

CRAFT - Blooming White Tulips

Last October I planted 200 tulip bulbs from VanEglen.com. I am beyond excited to report that they have just started to bloom and look gorgeous. Hip, hip, hooray! 

Montreaux Tulips - as of April 21, 2013

I purposely wanted to plant the bulbs en masse to create a big tulip presence in late April. I planted two varieties, the peony-like Mt Tacoma and the Montreaux. I think that just the Montreaux variety is blooming so far (it claims to bloom "mid-April"). I can't wait for the Mt Tacoma (which reads "late April") to also open up in the weeks to come!

Blood orange fennel relish on rainbow trout

I love cooking, it's the perfect blend of crafting and consuming. 

CRAFT: A couple nights back I worked on a blood orange fennel relish. In progress (below) are the chopped fennel fronds, my amazing citrus zester (a gift from my sister, similar here), and lemon juice. I often craft dinner with some vino in-hand.