Toasting eggshells

This is going to have to be the title of my gardening memoir, as a metaphor for some of the crazy things I do. Not that I think they're crazy. My garden friend Jen knew exactly why I was toasting eggshells the other day. My husband, on the other hand, gave me one of those "there's probably a good reason for this that does not involve an adjustment to her medication" looks.

Anyway, in case you haven't figured it out I was toasting eggshells to dry them out, so that I could grind them fine and put them around my broccoli. Well, for heaven's sake, so the slugs will leave them alone!

Just looking around from where I'm sitting I see the following slightly odd bits of evidence that a gardener lives here:

• hot peppers soaking in oil (anti-rabbit spray)
• pop bottles cut in half (for wintersowing, duh)
• saved broken pieces of ceramic pots (plant labels)
• seed heads in the blender (It's pretty much all I use the blender for)
• frozen used coffee grounds
• cut up mini-blinds
• boxes of drier lint

This does not even begin to cover the things that anyone could figure out-- windowsills devoted to seedlings, grow lights clamped to every available location, bags full of unidentified green things in the freezer, piles of rocks on the porch to throw at the rabbits.

What do you have in your house that a non-gardener just wouldn't understand?

Blueberry thumbprint cookies
1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/3 c blueberry syrup
zest from 2 limes
3 c flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 salt

Whisk dry ingredients together, In another bowl cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Stir in juice and zest. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined (over mixing will make this dough tough). Cover and chill until dough is firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll into balls using about a tablespoon of dough for each. Place on cookie sheet. Make indent with thumb in center of each cookie and fill with blueberry jam. (Yes, make your own)

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or till edges are just turning a light golden brown.

I accidentally made these with 1 1/2 CUPS of butter. They're okay, but a little rich, and they don't have the buttery shortbread texture that makes these cookies so wonderful. Also, the blueberry syrup makes the dough a lovely blue, but it "bakes out" leaving the cookies slightly gray looking. I'm thinking food dye.