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More South Portland Study Weekend Gardens, pt. 2

The last three gardens on last Saturday's tour included a large shade garden, a tropical oasis and an Asian-inspired retreat. First, the Hilderbrand garden in Oregon City. This garden is set in a grove of Douglas Fir trees and has paved pathways that meander through plantings of dogwoods, hydrangeas, viburnums, kalmias and other shade-loving plants.  The garden of Michael Hicks and Megan Big John is a quarter-acre plot in West Linn. This garden is packed with plantings of tropical plants with big beautiful leaves and vibrant pops of color. Helena Wagner's "4 Seasons Garden" is a garden that I have visited in the past. It features an Asian-inspired theme with beautifully placed plants, with nice colors and contrasts. Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Chocolate Covered Cherries Cookies



Happy Valentine's Day!

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup butter (softened)
* 1 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries
* 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
* 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together in a mixer bowl. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Sift flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together and add to the butter mixture. Roll into tablespoon sized balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Make an indention in each cookie with your thumb.
3. Drain cherries and reserve juice. Place a cherry in indentation of each cookie ball.
4. In a small saucepan, heat condensed milk and chocolate chips until chips are melted. Stir in 4 teaspoons of cherry juice (more if needed). Spoon about 1 teaspoon of mixture over each cherry and spread to cover cherry (or if you'd prefer the cherry to be seen, drizzle the icing in stripes).
5. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.



Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. Phillip, these look so mouth-watering. I wish you could send me some:-).

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  2. I'd love one, Phillip! A perfect ending to the day. Happy Valentine's Day :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'll have to make a batch of these for my dh. He loves chocolate covered cherries. Thanks for sharing the recipe. :) ~~Rhonda

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