! At the 2010 Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, MO!

Louise is always making us proud around here at Walter Knoll Florist!

This time with her blue ribbon win at the State Fair.

As part of the Fleur de Lis Garden Club of St Charles, MO, Louis won first place

in the “Miniature Class – Candy Corn” – arrangement size was limited to 8″ x 8″ x 8″

What is Provence? When you hear the word, do you think of the South of France, and olives, lavender and sunflowers? I certainly do, as well as a slower of pace of life, and delicate seafood feasts at cafes. Which brings me to “Provencal” as in “Fluke Provencal”.

Delicate fillets of fluke (in the cod family) simmered with fresh tomatoes, olives, capers and wine.  I had my first fluke and my first “Provencal” in the Hamptons last week and came home with an unbelievable hunger for more.  Well the local Schnuckie Man didn’t have fluke, but they did have some very fresh tilapia fillets so I bought a little over a pound – 4 fillets.

First you make the sauce: In a large skillet and into a bit of olive oil sweat some shallots (2 or 3 small ones) with a tablespoon of dried Herbs de Provence (My big ol’ jar of Herbs de Provence” came from Janet, a souvenier from her trip to France earlier this year!).  While the onions were sweating I went out to the garden and gathered tomatoes, oregano, lavender, basil and thyme.  I also picked a jalapeno, an Italian hot finger-pepper, a Serrano chili and a sweet banana pepper.  I cut each pepper into a different shape (to identify later when I was eating them) and added them with inch thick chunks of tomatoes (about 3 medium sized) to the sweating onions.  Cooked them for a minute then added about a half cup of the fresh herbs, finely diced.  Then a cup or perhaps a bit less of white wine and about 3/4 cup of Kalamata olives, halved.  Simmered it for about 5 minutes then set it aside in a bowl.  Rinse and dry the fish fillets, then lay them out on a plate and squeeze half a lemon over them.  Cover with saran and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.  Blot dry with paper towels just before sautéing them.  Use the same pan, just wipe it out and add a tablespoon or two or olive oil – add the fish to the hot oil.  When the edges of the fillets were white, I flipped them and poured over the reserved sauce, spreading all the ingredients around well.  Only took about 3 minutes each side on the fish.  Just before serving, add a couple tablespoons of rinsed capers and another quarter cup of the fresh herbs.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil when serving. The peppers were a wonderful addition to the dish, not hot to bite into but a lingering heat . . . yum yum yum we love hot peppers around here!

And sunflowers! Back to Sunflowers! One more week of the Walter Knoll Florist wholesale sunflower bunch special – 5 stems for $7.50 as well as many of our sunflower bouquets are at special pricing!!

Asiatic Lily Bunches!

Through August 8th, Walter Knoll Florist is offering wholesale Asiatic Lily Bunches

at only $14 per bunch of 10 stems, Cash n Carry*

Just stop into one of our stores and ask for the Wholesale Bunch special!

Through August 8th, Cash n Carry, Walk-in only and while supplies last.

Lilies are in various colors, orange, red, cream, white, yellow etc.

PLUS . . . Many of our Asiatic Lily bouquets are also at special pricing -

visit our Special Asiatic Lily Selection and take a look-see!

We just took our new (to us) 1924 Model T out for it’s inaugural run on July 3rd at the Webster Groves Independence Day parade.  We purchased this truck from our friends, the Johnsons that operate a multi generational florists in St. Paul, Minnesota.  We painted  it to match a picture we have  of a 1924 Model T we owned back in the 1920s and got it ready for the parade.  We named the little truck Rudolph after our ancestor Rudolph Knoll, who immigrated to the United States from Düsseldorf Germany (Where the family business was what else but a florist or blumenverkäufer) in the mid 1800s.

Hand Lettered by David Knoll

The Radiator Cap is the Temperature Gauge

Most of the Knoll Family was there, and it was a lot of fun.  About 1/2 way through the parade we did overheat and we need to figure out how to make sure that does not happen again.  Look for us to have Rudolph at a parade near you in the future.  If you have an event that you would like Rudolph to show up at give us a call.

Have you ever wondered how you drive a Model T. It is different than cars of today. Below is a short video from the Henry Ford Museum.

Today is the first day of the two day Pond-O-Rama 2010

the 10th Anniversary Tour presented by the

St Louis Water Gardening Society.

Many members opened their ponds and water gardens to visitors for

As colorful a group of pictures as any shots at today’s Gay Pride parade, surely!

Our friend (and pond owner) David Schiele put together a tour route of

nine fanciful yards for us to visit (Thank you sooooo much, Dave!).

We started in South County and finished up in Town & Country

Thanks to the following folks who shared their gardens with us!

Carol & Ron Greminger

then to Steve & Terry Metzler

Chris & Tara Siewing

Andy & Christine Schimpf

Dan and Beverlee Maschek

David (Peggy) Schiele

Floyd & Susan Wright

Rick & Pam Jokerst

Take a Look-See and Enjoy!

So Many Pretty Flowers and Ponds and Gardens and Fishies!

We are, of course!

Walter Knoll Florist thanks St Louis Magazine readers

for selecting us as Best Florist for

St Louis Magazine’s A List 2010!

SUMMER DAHLIAS!

We are celebrating with a big sale on Dahlia Bouquets

We are also offering wholesale Dahlia bunches at all of our stores -

a bunch of 10 Dahlias for $10*

Stop in and ask about the wholesale special!

Our wholesale bunches of Dahlias special is running through June 27

*In store only, Cash-n-Carry and While supplies last.

I love the flavor and fragrance of fresh marjoram!  I have a 4 year old plant in my garden that is a mound approximately a foot and a half wide and 2 to 3 feet tall when in bloom.  The variety I have is light green in color with white flower spikes that are very attractive to butterflies & bees – oh to have some honey from the bees that visit my herb garden! Marjoram is very similar to Oregano in that they are both in the mint family (although not invasive) and both when fresh are very high in antioxidants.  Sweeter & milder than oregano, marjoram is an important part of the spice mixture in fresh German sausage (with coriander, garlic, chives & mace) and is used in French “Herbs de Provence (I like a mix of marjoram, rosemary, thyme, chervil, summer savory & lavender) as well as in Greek and Italian sauces.  It is absolutely delicious in this cold pasta salad recipe that is always a hit on a hot summer day.  Great for picnics since it has no mayo!

Angel Hair Pasta Salad with Lemon, Marjoram and Grainy Mustard

7 Tablespoons olive oil

1 lemon rind finely grated

5 Tablespoons lemon juice

3 Tablespoons grainy mustard

1/3 Cup finely minced marjoram

1/3 Cup finely chopped chives

¾ Cup artichoke hearts cut to bite size

1/2 Cup diced pimento

1 can large black olives, chopped

1 lb angel hair pasta

Grate the rind from the lemon before squeezing it.  Combine olive oil, lemon rind & juice and mustard in small bowl with whisk and set aside while you mince the marjoram and chop the chives.

Break the angel hair pasta strands in half and cook according to package directions, drain and without rinsing put back into pot and pour olive oil mix over and combine well.

Add herbs and vegetables and chill well before serving.

Visit the Walter Knoll Florist Garden Center at the corner of California and LaSalle

for herbs, annuals, perennials, house plants and unique decorative garden gifts.

I have connected with my cousin Lynette on Facebook and she asked me lately if I had Grandma’s angel food cake with strawberry glaze recipe.  Every birthday growing up my Grandma Boerschig would make whatever cake we requested  for our birthday.  Often I went for the pineapple upside down cake make in an iron skillet, but more often I went for her Angel Food Cake with a hardened strawberry glaze.  Sometimes she made a homemade Angel Food Cake and sometimes she used a box mix.  You could tell if  she used a box by the colored speckles in the cake!  I remember her teaching me how to make the glaze once, with a tin of frozen sliced strawberries, but for the life of me I am not sure if she used egg white or egg yolk.  This cake I made with a yolk, and except for it it being made with fresh berries and not hardening because I put it on so thick, I think this glaze is dang good!

Angel Food Cake Recipe adapted from www.epicurious.com

1-1/2 cups egg whites (11 to 12 large eggs) room temperature (save 1 yolk for glaze)

1-1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 cup sifted cake flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

a 10-inch tube pan (about 4 inches deep) with a removable bottom

Macerated Strawberries and Glaze

4 cups thinly sliced ripe strawberries

½ cup granulated sugar

Combine above strawberries and sugar and refrigerate overnight.

1 egg yolk

½ cup powdered sugar

For the Cake

Set oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.

Sift together powdered sugar, flour, and salt onto a sheet of wax paper.  Beat whites in mixer until frothy.

Add cream of tartar and beat at medium speed until they form soft peaks.  Add granulated sugar gradually, beating, and continue beating just until whites are thickened and form soft, droopy peaks. Beat in vanilla.

Sprinkle one fourth of sifted dry ingredients over whites and fold in with a rubber spatula gently but thoroughly. Fold in remaining dry ingredients, one third at a time. Gently pour batter evenly into ungreased tube pan and bake until top is light golden, cake retracts a bit from pan and springs back when touched lightly, and a tester comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.

Invert pan and cool cake completely. Place cake small end up on an over-sized plate.

Divide cake into 3 even-ish layers with serrated knife.   Arrange 1/3 of the macerated strawberries on the two inside layers of the cake. Sprinkle a bit of the juice on as well.

For the Glaze

Strain the remaining strawberries and mash with a fork or wooden spoon –

Beat the egg yolk with about 2 tablespoons of the strawberry juice and stir gently into the mashed berries – try not to make a lot of bubbles. Gradually and gently stir in sifted powdered sugar until consistency of lumpy gravy. Drizzle over cake. Top with any remaining strawberries.

I think I went a bit heavy on the drizzle and the glaze will probably not harden up – perhaps 2 tbl of the strawberry juice is too much also.  It’s delicious whether it hardens or not!

With summer right around the corner we are all geared up for gardening season!

Veggies, Flowers, Perennials, Annuals, Herbs, Shrubs & Trees!

Cabbage

digitalis

caladium

coleus

New Guinea impatiens

lemon thyme

yarrow

impatiens

Mandevilla vine

sweet potato vine

And here’s Tony!  One of our 3 high school graduates!

Congratulations to Tony Mendez, Daniel Hernandez and Bradley Knoll -

Good Job Guys!