how does our garden grow?

given that i've had this post in my head since, oh say, april, and that i've been taking photos of our garden all summer long, and that fall is upon us, i'm finally getting around to posting about our green thumb (thumbs?). truthfully, i've been stuck on the title -- i wanted something like mary, mary quite contrary, but paulie, paulie, quite the dolly, or suzie, suzie, quite the floozy, just weren't rolling off the tongue.

remember back in march when warm & sunny days were nowhere in sight and i posted about planting some seedlings and demanded spring to spring? well, here is how our garden grew:

first came the lettuce:

then came the sugar snap peas (my favorite):

then came the teeniest carrots and garlic and onions that you ever did see:

then came the tomatoes that seemed like they'd never turn to red, though they eventually did:

and then came the day when paul was tired of throwing out garbage that dripped & i was tired of not having a garbage disposal -- the very same day that we decided we might as well start preparing some soil for next year's garden.

martha stewart wannabe?

about a month ago when i was perusing the "internets" for lemon chiffon icing recipes, i came across a lovely blog called the tender crumb. she had amazing pictures of the delicious things she had baked as part of her membership in a club called "Tuesdays with Dorie." a visit to TWD introduced me to about 50 other sites and bloggers (mainly women) who have gorgeous blogs dedicated to baking. each week these women bake the same item from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook and share their insights, tweeks, mishaps, & ideas. they are baking their way through her cookbook! at first i thought these women were crazy -- who has time for this? but i was strangely intrigued and found myself checking their sites almost every day. paul was nervous. and then i watched julie & julia and was inspired. could i too follow my dream and become a baker and a blogger, and perhaps get my own book deal? i mean if jen of cakewrecks did it by posting ugly cake photos and adding snarky comments, then why can't suzanne "Q Monroe" lowell, of let them eat cake do it?

i caved. i joined one of those baking blog clubs! the one i joined is a bit more manageable for my crazy life. it's called the martha stewart cupcake club. in this club, we bake one recipe a month from martha stewart's new cupcake book (which is very cool). i'm already a bit behind though! i was supposed to bake zucchini spice cupcakes and post pictures and my baking tale by yesterday the 15th. i have a very good reason why i am behind though...

i am being hired for my very first wedding! i baked all day sunday -- 4 different recipes -- 2 different cakes -- 3 different types of frosting! that topic deserves a blog post of it's very own. which is coming soon. with pics.

but this post is just to apologize to my new blogworld friends -- i'm sorry i haven't posted or baked the zucchini spice cupcakes yet. please don't kick me out of the MSC club! i promise i will catch up.

for now, if you're interested, check out the MSC blogroll and visit all of these bakers' sites -- they are incredible.