You can't have it all

This is how my garden looked before the BIG freeze.  While we were in Utah where the temperature was never above freezing, nature pulled a terrible trick on us.  The Valley of the Sun had five (yes, five) nights where the lows were in the high 20's.  On the outskirts of the metropolitan area there were even some temperatures in the teens.  This is a rare event in the southern deserts of Arizona.

Before leaving town I picked a basket full of tomatoes which I could tell were beginning to ripen.  I figured they could finish up on my Utah kitchen counter which they did.  They were delicious and flavorful.

So imagine my dismay when I arrived home and found every tomato plant frozen and squishy blackening tomatoes.  Please notice that the kale was still happy as was the spinach, lettuce, chard, broccoli, and cauliflower.  These are the normal winter garden plants in this part of the world and I understand that part of their makeup is a self-producing antifreeze.

Not so with tomatoes! It broke my tomato loving heart.

I did find this lovely head of cheddar cauliflower waiting for me.  I found the seedlings in October and decided to give them a try.

It tastes great, but the best part?  Broccoli/cauliflower soup looks all cheesy before you add the cheese!

*Not only do I like the cauliflower but so did some bright fluorescent green inch long caterpillars.  I was brave and picked them off before rinsing and eating.