Garlic Scapes and sugar snaps

Wow, how is it already Friday again? This week has zoomed by super fast. i'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it's already June...and now i've got 10 days till my daughter's birthday. Yikes!! i've been planning to make a new doll for her, so i really need to get working on that! i actually have the doll base made, made it months ago, just haven't gotten around to finishing it at all. i've been wanting to pick out a really fun yarn for her hair, but have yet to make it to the new yarn store in Floyd when they are actually open. Despite the online hours being listed as Friday 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. After three trips all the way to Floyd only to find them closed, i can attest that they close around 5pm, or whenever they happen to feel like closing. Tonight i am going for my 4th attempt to check out the yarn shop. Fingers crossed that they are actually open, and that they have something completely fabulous to use for Sage's new doll.

i finally have a new camera, so i can start getting pictures of my garden and projects again. This week has been spent almost entirely in the garden. The kids not only planted their own garden, but also helped me to (almost) finish planting mine. We had one thundershower come through, that really helped to soften up the soil and it helped to perk up my cold crops.


My peas went from being sad and wilting to flowering and producing peas within days of the rain.

My garlic has also begun to send up it's flower shoots, otherwise known as garlic scapes. When the scapes are coiled like a pig's tail they are delicious and ready for harvest. The Garlic scapes can be removed to encourage the plant to focus it's energy on the actual bulb. Many farmers remove the scapes and just throw them out. Until last year, i had no idea that the garlic scapes are edible. Yesterday, i picked a handful of the garlic scapes and started to look up recipes. i decided to try something similar to the Garlic scape and snow pea recipe i found here.

One of our favorite ways to eat snow peas is lightly saute'd in olive oil, with minced garlic, a nice drizzle of sesame oil and a splash of tamari. So i made the recipe similar replacing the minced garlic with the the garlic scapes.

First, wash and clean your snow peas, removing the ends if need be. Wash your garlic scapes and cut them up. You can cut them in small pieces, slice them diagonally, or leave them whole. i cut mine in half, so that i have three inch long stems, and then the curly tops.

Heat up your olive oil and add the garlic scapes. Cook a few minutes, until you notice the scapes turning bright green and soften up a little. Now add your snow peas, and drizzle a bit of sesame oil over the top and cook another minute or two. i like my snow peas to be bright green and tender crisp. Now splash a bit of tamari on top, stir it up a few seconds more and then remove from the heat and serve immediately.

These were really good served this way! The garlic scapes do not have a strong garlic taste, it is very mild and a bit nutty. It actually reminded me a bit of really thin asparagus. They also made a really unique looking dish. My daughter who is usually quite picky and normally won't try new foods even asked to try them, and she liked them!

i still have a ton of garlic scapes to use up, and here are a few more recipes i'm looking forward to trying white bean dip with garlic scapes, garlic scape soup, and garlic scape and swiss chard pesto!

It is always fun to discover a new food treasure, and these garlic scapes really are a fun and tasty little treasure. They can be pickled, sauteed with butter, grilled or roasted and served on pizza, added to soups or salads, pulverized into pesto. So many uses for this interesting looking part of the garlic plant.