February 19, 2012-- Lenten roses + collard core

Ah, these colors. I picked the Lenten roses in the snow, and as they thawed in the house, drops of water dripped from their petals. So beautiful.

And in the bowl on the left is something else with amazing color--its the center leaves and core of a hunk of collard greens. They are blanched because they never saw the sun. Below is a close-up of the most central part. I couldn't decide whether to use these blanced leaves in my collard cole slaw or to display them on the windowsill. (I have a feeling they may be a delicacy, but it's actually the nice, dark, outer leaves that seem most appropriate for collard cole slaw.) At any rate, I used the blanched leaves, plus this gorgous core, for display rather than food, but, boy, is their color yummy--and so beautiful with the Lenten roses.