Baby Cucumbers!

Since Matt's been home, I've put him in charge of a few daily chores, like watering the garden and making dinner (which is at least planned out in advance). This morning, he sent me a text message reading: Great big cucumber... I love you. Uh, PICTURES!

So he sent me two:

This is the fruit of my one teeny-tiny sunny patch of backyard. I'm not doing much this year; only a puny basil plant, a ton of mint (which came back from last year), some oregano (which has come back several years in a row), some chives (which has been around as long as the oregano), a slightly struggling tomato plant, and a quite happy cherry tomato plant. Just wait: one of these days, I'm going to have a big sunny yard and lots of plants!

Spring Is Springing!

Yesterday was SO NICE! At least the part where I spent a few hours sitting in the back yard, listening to the birds, watching a pair of finches build their nest under the back awning, knitting a beret, and soaking up the sun.

Matt and I are thinking of turning the back yard into a full-on veggie garden. I may actually do it this year... I don't know why I've cared about having a little patch of grass for so long! I'm debating different ways of doing it. Plant right in the grass? Build garden beds all over? Maybe just a bunch of containers, so if we ever sell the place, we can just pack them up and the new owners can replant grass seeds? What do you think??

This year, we've bought little peat pellets and seeds, and I've starting germinating five plants each of sweet peas (my and Matt's birth flower), cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, arugula (my favorite spring/summer green. I could eat it every day!), and pumpkins (for Matt, who looks forward to Halloween every year). I also have seeds waiting for tomatoes, basil, cilantro, chives, oregano... and I THINK that's it for now.

My little "greenhouse" holds about 25 peat pellets at a time and it takes about two weeks to get sprouts, so I'll likely do seedlings every other week or so. And, I'll probably have extra tomato, cherry tomato, pea, cucumber, basil and pumpkin plants (assuming I don't kill them shortly after they sprout) so let me know if you want any!

And no, I'm not the only one suddenly interested in a garden. Here's an article to prove it: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=103038

Fall Sleepover

Friday, I left work almost an hour early to pick up mom (who can’t be bothered to drive herself to Baltimore!) to spend the weekend with me. Good thing I left early, too, because she called at 6:30 to ask why I wasn’t there yet! Fortunately for her, I was pulling into her neighborhood by then. Saucy minx.

Anyway, we drove north to my house, had dinner, stuffed her Mother Bear (see below), watched a little TV, and went to bed.

Saturday, we tried to go to Miss Shirley’s downtown for breakfast, but that location isn't open on weekends; we headed to Morning Edition instead. Mom was introduced to the ghetto and brie, and seemed to have a preference for the latter. Imagine that! Not only was the food very good, but THE WAITER SMILED. (This place is known more for the dicey location and great brunch rather than for friendly or prompt waitstaff.) After we gorged ourselves, we went to Lovelyarns and dropped off our Mother Bears. It was really nice; we overheard the proprietor admiring our bears, and I had to let everyone know it was mom’s first knitting project, and that we’d be back soon with more. In return, she let us know that we’d likely see our bears hanging on the wall before being boxed and sent to Mother Bear headquarters.

On the way back out, we stared longingly at Dangerously Delicious Pies and made a pact to stop there during the next sleepover. And when we passed the SPCA, Mom wanted to know if that’s where we are going to go adopt her a kitty whenever Bob (who’s allergic) moves out. Mom, who always said she didn’t like pets. She just has to be shown the light!

Next, we went to Target to buy Halloween candy, then Matt dropped us off at the movies. We saw Nights in Rodanthe, which was sappy and teary, but entertaining. Afterwards, he picked us up at Barnes & Noble. How’d he know to find us in the knitting section?!? That night, I made spaghetti with what will likely be the last home-grown, home-made sauce of the year, then we put together baggies of Halloween candy for mom’s trick-or-treaters while watching Chicago, then Mom went to bed with her new Nicholas Sparks book. (I wish I had have bought the Alison Weir historical fiction; maybe Santa will remember me. But I have plenty to read right now.)

Sunday, Matt made pancakes and eggs, then went to the Ravens game with his cousin. I took mom home, then did housework: dishes, laundry, ironing, changing the sheets, pulling up some of the dying herbs and stuff from the back yard, etc. until Matt got back home.

The plan is already set for Mom’s next visit: she’s due to come over again the first week of December, when Matt and I should (!) have some Christmas decorations up, and we’ll go see a holiday movie, eat breakfast at the other Miss Shirley’s, 34th Street should be decorated, we can drop off our latest bears and get a Dangerously Delicious Pie, and – best part? – watch the Ravens vs. Redskins game that Sunday at Mom’s house. (NO PIZZA, MOM! Pizza and pie sound gross together!)

Hope everyone else had a good weekend!

Anyone Need Tomatoes?

I'm finally starting to see the fruits of my labors, literally! In my one tiny patch of yard next to my shed, the one little tiny spot that gets a bit of sun, I've managed to grow tomatoes. Lots of tomatoes!

Possibly a few too many tomatoes.

I'm planning on making gazpacho, homemade salsa, tomato pie, and probably lots of tomato sandwiches. Matt told me I sounded like Bubba Gump duing dinner tonight, with all my talk of the things I could do with our mini-crop. This is exactly the kind of success I needed, and now I'm terribly excited about trying again next year, for the next couple of years, and my next home, my next yard, my big sunny spot for a real garden one day.

In Defense of Food

As mentioned in my previous post, I just finished reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. The premise, oversimplified, is right on the cover of the book: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. It sounds simple, but when Pollan challenges you to consider how many "edible food-like substances" have made their way into grocery stores, you get an idea of how a Western diet gets in the way of your ability to "Eat food."

The first section of the book delves into the process by which our food has lost much of its integrity, how constantly shifting opinions of scientists have unintentionally divorced us from more simple traditional, healthy cooking and eating habits; food manufacturers jumped at opportunities to engineer cheaper, more artificial and addictive foods; and food marketers have thrown unimaginable amounts of money into pulling shoppers towards the middle of American grocery stores, towards brightly colored packages touting the health benefits of all of the additives inserted into foods that had been stripped of them from constant engineering. American food culture has been changing: more than once per generation, and not for the better.

At some point and for whatever reason, we stopped looking at whole foods and trusting in their innate complexities, and we started focusing on nutrients. Pollan cites the 1977 case where the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs issued guidelines meant to address the rise in diet-related chronic diseases. Their recommendation to reduce consumption of meat and dairy was met with so much criticism from red meat and dairy industries, that the Senator heading the committee quickly replaced their original recommendation to "choose meats, poultry and fish that will reduce saturated fat intake." Never mind that the recommendation about dairy was dropped; note that they suddenly single out a nutrient, proclaim it bad, and do not single out a food group. And the Senator was later voted out of office. Do you think any government official will stick his neck out for that subject again? (Skinny Bitch had a chapter recommending the eater "trust no one." Sounds familiar.)

So now we talk about food parts: fiber and vitamins and fats (good and bad). And science constantly shifts the winds of favor for one versus the other. Remember when margarine was supposed to be better for you than butter? Or baby formula just as good as breast milk? Just wait until science discovers another nutrient that formula has gone without for so many years. In the meantime, they are busy genetically engineering peaches to produce more and be more disease resistant, likely at the cost of taste and nutrition. Coca-Cola will probably end up with an organic, vitamin-added soda. THIS DOES NOT MAKE IT HEALTH FOOD!!

The second section is about the specific ills of the Western diet as compared to traditional diets in other parts of the world. The problem? Other parts of the world are adopting a more Western diet, and Western diseases are following. I wish there were a brake I can pull to stop it. Just a week or so ago, the New York Times had an article about the rise of the hamburger in Paris. NO!! How are we going to turn this around if other countries are following our bad lead?

Frankly, some of the above-mentioned reading is laborious (and considering my recent predilection for food-related books, repetitive), so while I do recommend this book, I will say that the third part is the must-read: getting over "Nutritionism" and escape from the Western diet. In the interest in not rewriting the book, I'll paraphrase the author's suggested rules of thumb:

• Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. Take Twinkies... they are a cake that is incapable of rotting. EW!
• Avoid products that contain ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, more that five in number, or are high-fructose corn syrup.
• Avoid products that make health claims. Potato chips that claim to be heart-healthy probably aren't as healthy as the carrots in the corner, which are sitting around without packaging.
• Shop out the grocery stores when you can, and in the perimeter as much as possible. Yes, my local produce guy uses Miracle Grow. But I'm eating food that was produced less than a mile from my house, and I KNOW that it's in season.
• Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.
• You are what "what you eat" eats, too. That is why I buy less meat, but invest in that which is "formerly happy."
• If you have the space, buy a freezer. Buy good stuff in bulk and freeze it.
• Eat like an omnivore. Diversity on your plate is a good thing.
• Eat well-grown food from healthy soil.
• Eat wild food when you can.
• Eat more like the French/Italians/Japanese/Indians/Greeks... not just what they eat, but how they eat it.
• Regard nontraditional foods with skepticism.
• Don't look for the magical bullet in the traditional diet. Think of cumulative goodness.
• Have a glass of wine with dinner. You don't have to tell me twice. Bring on the red!
• Pay more, eat less. Go for quality, eat slower, stop eating when you are full, not when your plate is empty.
• Eat meals. Three of them, and not in your car. It's a great way to civilize your kids.
• Do all of your eating at a table.
• Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does.
• Try not to eat alone.
• Cook and, if you can, plant a garden.

I love that the Amazon.com listing of what others bought include The Art of Simple Food (which I am slowly savoring) and that he thanked Alice Waters in his acknowledgements. I'm seeing a lot of her name in my reading, as well as Barbara Kingsolver's (I loved Animal, Vegetable, Miracle).

So there you have it, long and short. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

The Surprise Party (and other weekend tales)

Last weekend, we were back at Aunt Shirley's, for a surprise party celebrating Grandma's 80th birthday. Besides her offspring and their families (which now totals something like thirty-three people, not including boy- and girl-friends), there was her surviving brother, sister, and sisters-in-law, and some of their families. And the majority of us were waiting on Shirley's front porch for Aunt Carol and Uncle Jimmy to bring Grandma, supposedly to pick Shirley up for dinner.

The event was quite a success: Grandma was surprised, there was tons of food and people and presents, and it was good swimming pool weather. (I didn't get in, but the kids and I took about equal pleasure in their squirting my legs with water guns, and Bob tried to soak me via a cannon-ball. Unsuccessfully.)

This weekend was mainly a quiet one at home. We patronized the local produce stand (where I got a sack full of goodies for $7.75), staked up our Early Girl tomato plant (which is now bigger than I am!), visited Matt's mother and grandmother (and ended up being there too late to go to Carlos' surprise party, for which I'm now grateful considering how late he was to it!), did laundry, Matt packed for his trip to Kansas, and I finished reading In Defense of Food.

I've been a bit high strung lately, and am hoping for a peaceful week. I'll do my usual Whole Foods trip tomorrow after work, go to the movies with Carlos on Tuesday, spend Wednesday evening knitting, reading, or watching one of the Netflix films I have at home. Thursday is the Planit happy hour, and I hope to leave early to retrieve Matt from the airport. Then, TGIF... I'm already ready for it!

Three Days for the Fourth!

Thank the heavens, a three-day weekend. I really needed it. Friday morning, Matt made perfect little pancakes for breakfast, and we sat outside and ate and chatted and relaxed. I puttered around the garden a bit and he downloaded some iTunes, then we headed to my aunt's Dunkirk home, to visit family and float in her pool. Bob and I settled in some of her floats, each put our feet on the other's float, and drifted around. (Matt didn't get a picture, so you'll have to settle for one of my cousin, Matt, Bob, and mom:

We had some food and wrapped things up just as it was beginning to rain. The lightening was pretty amazing, but it made me glad mom was safely in the car with us! (She doesn't like storms.) Back at her house, she handed over Grandma's copy of Audition, and we trudged across the street to Grandma's, so Matt and I could pick up the Sleep Number bed she didn't want anymore. (We are eventually going to redo the guest room. Especially if we are going to have Stine and Marc visit!) On the way home, Matt and I saw some fireworks, but didn't stop. Instead, we watched the fireflies give their own show in the back yard.

Saturday, I let Matt sleep in while I curled up with the book. Matt made breakfast (a poached egg, bread with smashed avacado and fresh cilantro on top, and slices of peach) and -- bless his heart -- did the laundry while I read a bit more. We took a little outing to Target where I purchased three pairs of shorts ALL ABOVE THE KNEE. This is a big moment for me that started this morning, when I took a pair of capris and had Matt cut them into shorts because I only had one other decent pair. Matt bought some more khakis and polos for work.

We peeked into Michael's where I keep coveting the same two books (Weekend Knitting and One Skein, the latter which I told him I want delivered with a bag of sale yarn from Woolworks), then moved on to Best Buy. We also went to the B&N at the Avenue, where Matt and I got frozen lemonade drinks and shared a treat. I looked for good books to add to my ongoing "must read" list, but found out had read or marked down pretty much everything in the best sellers section. Then to Ann Taylor Loft, where I got an orange tank to wear to an upcoming Planit happy hour. (And a blue tank. And another shirt.)

At that point, Matt was heading to watch the UFC thing with his cousin and some friends, so I picked myself a salad from the back yard and went back to reading my book. (When he got home after 1am, I was in bed, still reading.)

Sunday was a quiet day. I had some cereal for breakfast and read while Matt packed for a quick jaunt to Pennsylvania. We sat at the table for a bit and chatted, then I sent him off to the Orioles game with a coworker, from where he'd head to the airport. Ed and Steve popped in a for a bit to learn how to use one of our digital cameras, which I am letting them borrow. Heaven knows what kind of pictures we're going to see when the camera comes back! My only regret in letting them borrow the camera is that when Matt is gone, I usually use the self-timer to take a picture of myself when I'm ready for work, and I send it to him in the evenings. I know he'll miss that, but at least this will be a shorter trip. In the meantime, I have sweet-sweet kittens and tomato plants. And work tomorrow. Yuck!

You Say "Tomato"...

...I say, "Homegrown, baby!"

This morning, I got up all grumpy and tired, having had a hard time sleeping alone. (Again, darn it!) So I dressed myself nicely and did my make up and fed the kittens and went outside to check on the garden. And what did I see? A nice, red, ripe tomato looking back at me! My very first tomato of the season. It was so pretty I wanted to sit in the yard all day, admiring it. But instead, I grabbed a hold of it and tugged it off the vine. And admired it. It looked perfect, like the mutant clone tomatoes you see in the grocery store. Only mine wasn't harvested while it was still hard and green and refrigerated and shipped from Canada. In fact, it was on the vine at 8am and in my tummy at 1pm.

So today for lunch, I had a lovely fresh tomato with lovely fresh basil (yup, from the garden... although it's not QUITE as exciting as a tomato, I really love my homegrown basil) and some spreadable cheese on fresh bread from Panera. It was pretty fabulous, though I think I need a knife to keep at work, if I'm going to make a habit of this.

And I got lots of laughs because my tomato plant is a "Better Bush." Next year, I'm growing Brandywines. (I hear they taste better, anyway.)

Memorial Day Weekend

I got off early on Friday. Yay! Summer hours means I get out at 3:30 on most Fridays. I'm going to try to take advantage of that. I was a little hungry, so we sat at the bar at Kobe and had a drink (dirty martini, three olives), some sushi and conversation with and without the bartender. Then we went to Ulta, where I got a (very) red lipstick and new sunglasses, then we went to Ann Taylor Loft to spend the gift certificate 'Los gave me for my birthday. I got three tank tops and an adorable cropped jacket from the sale section, and treated myself to a robin's-egg blue dress. (Hey, I have a wedding to go to next weekend!) And to make up for my wild ways, I made us a great dessert of raspberry crumble, baked in individual ramekins and served with a bit of ice cream.

Saturday, we slept in a little, M made breakfast (which we did NOT eat outside, ahem.) then cleaned up and watched Blue Planet for a while, then worked up the resolve to tackle the back yard. And by "tackle the back yard," I mean I sat reading Vogue and M dug up some over-grown bushes. Though to be fair, I did some planting afterwards:

Six cabbage plants, five tomato plants (none of which will grow because we have NO sun in our yard, but I can't help trying), two cayenne pepper plants (not likely to grow), a watermelon plant (also doomed for failure), five types of basil (cinnamon, lemon, purple, sweet and genovese), two types of mint (peppemint chocolate and Kentucky Colonel, the mint julep mint!), chives, curly parsley, Arp rosemary, pineapple sage, French thyme, and Alaska nasturtium (I love the idea of edible flowers in a salad but failed my attempt to grow this last year).

And a tiny lavender plant out front. Lavender holds a special place in my heart.

After all that, we took showers and I threw on a dress and we sat at the bar at Olive Garden to use up gift certificates from Christmas. My pasta plate was so big, I ate it for dinner and we BOTH had it for lunch the next day. After dinner we went to Lowe's to look for cilantro (they didn't have it) and to get a rain gauge and a hummingbird feeder. Mainly to attract bees! Then I baked cupcakes to take to Sunday's cookout.
Sunday morning, M got Panera take-out so we could have breakfast in the back yard. And it's a good thing we did! As part of our usual bird-watching adventure, a baby starling flew onto the back deck and started fussing at M. He tip-toed in the house, got some bread, came back (who'd think the bird would still be there?), and offered him some. The bird seemed pretty offended, and FLEW ONTO M'S ARM to tell him off a little better.

I, of course, ran in the house for the camera.

The bird hung out there for quite a while, squawking angrily. M made me dig up a worm for him; he ate it right off of M's arm. Then flew on me. Of course, I ate that right up. And after baby-talking to my new friend for a few minutes, the neighbor from two doors down came out, saw us, and announced that was the baby bird he had rescued two weeks ago! After some coaxing and offerings of worms, the bird eventually flew to the neighbor's, had some more tasty little worms, then went off exploring the world.

Bird adventure aside, I dyed some icing and decorated the cupcakes with flag designs,
then freshed up and headed off to Aunt S's. The drive took a little more than an hour and we were pretty much the last to arrive. J's kids were actually braving the pool. My grandmother? Yeah, she braved a ride in the sidecar of my uncle's Harley. Too funny!

We left S's around 7pm and went to Grandma's to meet her new cat, Buddy. Buddy is about six years old, and the perfect companion for Grandma. Of course, I don't think he's nearly as cute as my Alex (Angel is more devious than cute), but he is a lovely, fat, happy tabby. We visited Mom for a few more hours before heading home at around 10pm.

Monday... a day off!!!

Proof of Life

This morning, I made an amazing discovery:
My tulip bulbs are sprouting!

Okay, it's not the clearest picture, but I'm no photographer. And if that's what you are focusing on, you are missing the point! Matt and I planted these bulbs two autumns ago, and I was pretty sure nothing was going to come of them. And I HATED waiting for something to happen. But lo and behold, that first spring we had tulips, and the year after that... more tulips! I still have a bit of childlike wonder about the idea of planting a seed (or in this case, a bulb, but you know what I mean) and having life come from it. I must, considering that when I went out to warm up my car this morning, I felt compelled to come back out in the cold weather with my poopy little Kodak EasyShare and snap away at tiny green buds.

(Post Script: Matt has announced he wants a better camera for our birthday [which is on the same day], so by mid-April, let's see if I'm posting better pictures.)