THE VILLAGE VOICE

"If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom." ~Terri Guillemets Exbury Azalea

"How can one help shivering with delight when one's hot fingers close around the stem of a live flower, cool from the shade and stiff with newborn vigor." ~ Colette Centaurea montana 'Amethyst in Snow' (Click for more info from Fine Gardening ) _________________ CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKES ~ Deep, intense chocolate ... pure pleasure in every bite (from Ghirardelli Chocolate) ___________ Center: 1/2 bar (2 oz.) 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar 1/4 cup heavy cream Cake: (nonstick cooking spray) 1 bar (4 oz.) 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar 8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter 2 whole eggs 2 egg yolks 1/3 cup sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/4 cup cake flour Fresh raspberries Whipped Cream To make centers , melt chocolate and cream in double boiler. Whisk grntly to blend. Refrigerate abut 2 hour or until firm. Form into 6 balls; refrigerate until needed. To make cake , heat oven to 400º. Spray six (4-oz.) ramekins or custard cups with cooking ...

"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers." ~ Rudyard Kipling ANNE MOTHER'S FAVORITE FLOWER Lily of the Valley (muguet de bois)

"Life Begins the day you start a garden." ~ Chinese Proverb Bleeding Heart ( Dicentra spectabilis 'Gold Heart')

" Show me your garden and I shall tell you what your are. " Alfred Austin Azalea and Bergenia 'Love in bloom' Azalea, Trillium, Bergenia Angelique Tulip 'Spring Green' Tulip Tulips and white dwarf Iris Double tulip Tulips Japanese Painted Fern Trillium Virginia Bluebell, Hosta, Variegated Solomon's Seal, Sweet Woodruff, Japanese Painted Fern, Geranium, Celandine Poppy, Lady's Mantle, Trillium, Jacob's Ladder Trillium and Maiden Hair Fern Flowering azalea and fern Hosta, Heuchera (Key Lime Pie), and Rhododendron Budding Rhododendron

"The month of May was come, when every lusty heart begineth to blossom, and to bring forth fruit." ~ Sir Thomas Malory Sweet Woodruff ______________ MAY WINE ~ Once tasted, this simple pleasure will surely become a haunting spring ritual 2 bottles good Rhine or Moselle wine (Riesling) a handful of sweet woodruff sprigs fresh strawberries & sweet woodruff flowers for garnish _ Rinse woodruff sprigs, and stuff into uncorked wine. Allow to steep several hours in refrigerator. Strain into wine glass & garnish with a fresh strawberry and pinched top of blooming sweet woodruff. ________________________ MAY WINE CHAMPAGNE PUNCH 1 gallon good Riesling wine handful of sweet woodruff sprigs 1-2 pints fresh strawberries 4 Tbsp. sugar champagne edible blossoms from the garden Stuff sweet woodruff in wine bottle or in large bowl. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Strain and pour into large glass punch bowl. Add sugar and mix well. Add an ice block (pretty with frozen flowers...

"Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment." ~ Ellis Peters CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE