Innehållsförteckning för Spring Bliss 2014 från Victoria

For Mother Nature, spring is the season of renewal. Why not follow her lead in your approach to gardening, home décor, and dining? Planting season begins as sunny skies and breezes softly scented with a profusion of blossoms signal the awakening of the soil. Perhaps you gathered seed packets and sketched flower-bed diagrams during the chilly days of winter. Now it is time to collect tools, venture outdoors, and set your plans in motion. For inspiration, look to the lush gardens Alecia Evans and Mary Bell created. Nestled on a heavily wooded property punctuated by a picturesque stream, Alecia’s garden, on page 13, is home to such favorites as Solomon’s seal, rhododendrons, hellebores, and Virginia bluebells. Mary’s vision for repurposed materials adds quaint charm to the vibrant landscape at her…

Mary Bell never intended to follow in her father’s footsteps. Not only did he marshal a multiacre vegetable garden (including more acres of potatoes than anyone wanted to consume), he installed rows of dahlias and gladiolus by the roadside just to watch passing cars screech to a halt to admire them. “I was the youngest of seven kids, and we only agreed on one thing—weeding was the worst torture on earth!” she recalls. The first chance she had, Mary moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and worked as a florist. But she soon grew homesick for the country. She missed even more the fresh fare on which she was raised and so returned to Port George, not far from where she grew up. Here, she also met her husband, Bill, who…

“Green leafy happiness and cherry-red life, bursting with seeds.” —TERRI GUILLEMETS Commonly featured in Mediterranean cooking, mint is one of the few herbs that complement both sweet and savory dishes. Layered with pureed green peas, baby arugula, and crumbled goat cheese, it makes a delicious topping for ciabatta, left. Fresh mint leaves steeped in halfand-half add a clean, sweet taste to pistachio ice cream, opposite. Nothing is more refreshing on a warm spring day than a mint julep served over a tall glass of crushed ice, below left. Bourbon, sugar, and mint are the traditional ingredients, but adding a splash of lime juice and a sprinkle of fresh, grated ginger gives the beverage a new twist. Create the perfect spring salad, below right, by tossing together a crisp mix of…

“Like seeds dreaming beneath the snow, your heart dreams of spring.” —KAHLIL GIBRAN…

“Flowers … are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world.” —RALPH WALDO EMERSON…

THE Recipes Summer Vegetable Salad Makes 4 servings 6 tablespoons champagne vinegar 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon coarse salt ½ teaspoon ground black pepper 1 (12-ounce) package heirloom cherry tomatoes, cut in half 1 (8-ounce) package haricots verts, cut in half and blanched 1 English cucumber, cut in half lengthwise, seeded, and sliced into ¼-inch slices ½ small Vidalia onion, thinly sliced 1 shallot, thinly sliced 1 tablespoon fresh dill sprigs 1 tablespoon torn fresh basil leaves 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, haricots verts, cucumber, onion, and shallot. Pour vinaigrette mixture over vegetables; toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with dill, basil, and oregano, and serve immediately. Pastrami Sandwiches Makes 4…

“The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size.” —GERTRUDE S. WISTER…

“A flower's appeal is in its contradictions—so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect.” —ADABELLA RADICI…

Light and lively, citrus fruits tickle the tongue with their slight sweetness and refreshing tang. Although their flavor can be bitter, the brightly colored peels of citrus fruits hold essential oils. Candying the peels, opposite, top left, mellows their sharpness and enables the pure essence of the fruit to come through. Tangerine-Clementine Gelée, opposite, top right, is simply flavored, allowing the clean, bright tastes of the citrus fruits to shine. A candied clementine slice provides a lovely finishing touch. This moist pound cake, below, features flowery thyme and punchy lemon, a match made in culinary heaven. The cake, with its tender, buttery crumb and delightfully sweet lemon glaze, tastes like springtime. Bubbly Prosecco wine and just-sweet-enough pomelo and pink grapefruit juices combine for a refreshing granita, opposite, bottom left—the perfect…