1.28.2009

A few good dinners

I haven't been cooking as much as I usually do, mainly because the husband has been working a lot and my solo meals are just not interesting enough to photograph. But here are a few meals I have made recently...

Grilled salmon, served with proscuitto-wrapped asparagus and crispy roasted potatoes...

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Kalua pork cooked in a slow cooker and served shredded over a potato bun. (Photo sans bun....)

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And a yummy repeat; Husband's favorite grilled fillet mignon with blue cheese crumble- this time with a stronger blue cheese that was even better!

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Oh yeah, and I conquered roasted chicken with delicious results:

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1.27.2009

Race to the surface

After a few short days, with only bits of sunshine in between a rainy week, we have a clear leader in the race to bring tomatoes to my dinner table:

It's the Tennessee Greens!!

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Followed by the Paul Robesons.... 

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The German Red Strawberries and Yellow Stuffers are also making an appearance. But so far, nothing from the Reisentraubes. My peppers are slowly starting to appear too. The Serranos have appeared as well as a few early jalapenos, but the rest are doing nothing. I read that peppers are slow starters, so hopefully they start to appear soon. 

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1.20.2009

A good day, indeed

Photo from here.

1.17.2009

Seeds

January is seed starting time in Southern California. I placed my orders last month and received my seeds last week. I placed most of my seed order with Baker Creek. The rest was with Seed Savers Exchange. However, I just received Johnny's Seed catalogue and I think I am  also going to place an order with them. They have a lot of things that I really want to grow, such as white sage and onion sprouts. The white sage is one of my favorite things to collect when I go hiking in the So. Cal mountains. Most commonly it is used by Native Americans for religious purposes, but it makes a wonderful tea and has amazing medicinal properties. The onion sprouts are just so damn tasty. I find myself craving them all the time. The sprout seller at the farmers market sells onion sprouts for $1 an ounce. That is crazy expensive- I am totally going to grow them myself.  

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Ok, so back to seeds- today I started seeds for tomatoes and peppers. I used a combination of peat pots, plastic containers and peat discs for planting, figuring I can see which method gets the best results.

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I planted the following tomato seeds:
Paul Robeson
Tennessee Green 
Reisentraube 
German Red Strawberry
Red Zebra 
Yellow Stuffer 

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And these varieties of peppers:

Hot:
Early Jalapeno
Tam Jalapeno
Anaheim
Caribbean Red Habanero 
Ancho Gigantea 
Serrano Tampequino 

Sweet: 
Golden Cal Wonder
Wisconsin Lakes
Napoleon Sweet
Italian Pepperoncini 
Quadrato D'Asti Rosso 

Now I can't wait to watch which ones are going to come in first!  I better check in on my worms and see if I have enough humus to start making a tea for my little seedlings. 

1.16.2009

Happy Friday

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1.10.2009

What's Growing On?

Things are looking great at my winter garden. December's cold spell made me a little nervous, as I noticed a lot of the vegetables in surrounding plots looking wilted and damaged. My garden managed to pull through and came out just fine. I'd like to think my TLC had something to do with that, but it was really just beginner's luck. The pak choy and mustard greens are getting big...



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and the lettuce is huge!! In the future, I think I am only going to grow leaf or butter lettuce, as it can be picked as-needed.

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I have already started receiving my orders for the spring garden too! Never in a million years would I have ever thought I'd be spending my evenings dog-earing the pages of seed catalogues, drooling over photos of lettuce and squash. Gardening is truly a dangerous hobby!!


1.04.2009

Weekend musings

  1. we love this bar.
  2. Worked on a green cowl I've been knitting. Trying to get through my stash yarn and refrain from buying any new stuff is really hard.
  3. Watched "The Strangers" on dvd- fortunately it was not based on a true story. Slept much better knowing this fact.
  4. Began planting for my spring garden. Started some seeds of bell pepper and early jalapeno.
  5. Picked up Martha Stewart's new cookbook, Cooking School. It's awesome and I heart it.
  6. Got craving for sandwich with cream cheese, sprouts and avocado. Made sandwich.
  7. Discovered onion sprouts at the farmer's market. Holy shit. Used in sandwich discussed in musing #3.
  8. Picked up some grass fed beef at framers market. Looking forward to trying it out.
  9. Cats like celery. Cut off a piece and watched cats have UFC battle over it.
  10. I'm getting better about slamming my front door on solicitors. Weekend total: 3; 2 fake teenagers selling magazines and 1 jehovah's witness.
  11. Who knew 5 ingredients could be so awesome together?
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yum onion sprouts


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1.02.2009

Flea Market Hunting

I love the Long Beach Flea Market! I have been a few times now, and I think it is easily one of the greatest secrets about the City. Sure, every antique hunter loves to go to the Rose Bowl Flea Market, but it is kinda a pain to get up so early and trek all the way to Pasadena. Having our own great flea market so close to home- it is nearly impossible to pass up. I picked up a few treasures on this past trip- An art-deco casserole dish,

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A pretty appetizer platter,

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this sweet little guy,

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And these really cute baby succulent plants that were 10 for $8.00!

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I think I am going to have to make this a monthly excursion.