Garden Party Prep

I'm getting ready for the garden party (30 people) this weekend and have been cooking up a storm. & quite enjoying it. The family's been either absent or watching their diets the last few months so there's not been a lot of "real" cooking going on around here lately. Getting out the big pots and generating heat in the kitchen has been refreshing. In a way.

In between preparing dishes I've also been cleaning up the garden. Planting, trimming, cutting, raking. It's been invigorating; if not exhausting. I've noticed that there seems to be two principle activities in gardening: cutting stuff and moving stuff from one spot to another.

A quick picture series of one of my kitchen toys; a mandoline. Basically a vegetable slicer - but French and all stainless steel. It's pretty and sharp and mechanical - and therefore a great deal of fun (to me).


And just look at those "teeth"! This is an accessory to make julienne strips instead of flat slices.


And the result is that you get (easily) the onions as brunoise (little cubes)