We've gotten baby quail and buck-eyed chicks from the Midwest, their baby chirps make me think of early February when the teenage chicks were exactly that. Now, they're practically adults and fitting in quite nicely with the lady hens.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Back at the Herbfarm
We've gotten baby quail and buck-eyed chicks from the Midwest, their baby chirps make me think of early February when the teenage chicks were exactly that. Now, they're practically adults and fitting in quite nicely with the lady hens.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Ghetto Pasta, My Brother Jesse's Cooking Show
My biggest cooking influence in my life is my mother. Her inventive cooking and taste for quality has not only affected my emotional opinions about food flavors, but learning to identify quality ingredients has also affected my brother, who I believe to be a true consumer of all the finer things in life. Instead of investing in culinary school however, Jesse takes his research on the road. Any time I am looking for Seattle's best burger, taco truck or finest cut of rib-eye, all I have to do is text my brother and he'll respond with at least five options for me. Besides knowing about all the greatest places to eat, good places to buy good ingredients, he can also make some mean barbecue, and he is hilariously funny.
Like anyone else, Jesse and I also have our moments when the need to satisfy hunger simply takes over anything creative, leading us to scanning the pantry and making something "that will do." I know all of us can think of a time when we've resorted to some wild creation, due to lack of time or ingredients on hand and made something ultra random. Like soup made out of leftovers or a microwaved plate of Chinese food next and yesterday's potato salad. Like many bachelors, Jesse has an abundance of condiments in his pantry and fridge, which can lead to some inventive creations. He started filming a cooking series with random bits and pieces in his kitchen. Here is the first of many, I hope! Ghetto Pasta Check it out!
Like anyone else, Jesse and I also have our moments when the need to satisfy hunger simply takes over anything creative, leading us to scanning the pantry and making something "that will do." I know all of us can think of a time when we've resorted to some wild creation, due to lack of time or ingredients on hand and made something ultra random. Like soup made out of leftovers or a microwaved plate of Chinese food next and yesterday's potato salad. Like many bachelors, Jesse has an abundance of condiments in his pantry and fridge, which can lead to some inventive creations. He started filming a cooking series with random bits and pieces in his kitchen. Here is the first of many, I hope! Ghetto Pasta Check it out!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Heirloom Tomato Lover
I am a tomato lover.
I’m not alone in the tomato lust department. I’ve stood behind several devotees at farmer’s markets or at checkout counters who have happily paid $6.00 for their oddly shaped, wrinkled and rainbow colored heirloom tomatoes. $6.00 for one tomato?! Are we crazy? Why do we do it when there is a perfect pyramid of Roma or beefsteak tomatoes everyday without fail in the produced department for half the price? We’re not trying to be Gucci, we do it for flavor.
Tomato lovers consider it crazy to pay for mealy, tasteless tomatoes, simply because the store sells these disappointing replicas called “tomatoes” year-round. I’m one of these people who wished that tomatoes tasted the way they do in the summer 365 days a year, but I have come to the realization that in order to experience the flavor of summer tomatoes all year round, I’ll need to get busy canning when tomatoes are at their peak.
American’s have gotten used to pumpkins only being available in the fall, so why can’t we teach ourselves that when things are at their seasonal peak- they taste better! And guess what else? They are in seasonal abundance and therefore cheaper!
For tomato lovers, summer is a long awaited treat and even more so if you happen to be a gardener and you are growing your own heirloom tomatoes. Seeing the first signs of fruit is that much sweeter and sooo worth the wait! And just reading the names of the heirloom tomato varieties from a seed catalogs is like reading through pages of children’s book characters, and you know there is a story behind each one! “Green Zebra,” “Bloody Butcher” and “Chocolate Stripes” to name a few!” One heirloom tomato seed website offers more than 600 heirloom varieties to choose from.
I just recently moved into my very first house and it looked to have a little bit of a yard, no trees, but a perfect spot with lengthy, direct sunlight- perfect for tomatoes! Months before we bought the house, I noticed a left over tomato plant marker, “New Girl” just lying in the dirt bed; perhaps one of the neighbor’s tags flew over the side or it was dropped by a curious crow, as there was nothing growing there, it seemed out of place. No one had lived in the house for 2 years, but it was like my thoughts were illustrated in front of me, this is where I wanted to plant tomatoes.
The day we showed up with our moving van something green and gorgeous was planted in the dirt bed. A brand new “New Girl” tomato starter plant was planted right in the plant marker spot, freshly watered and surrounded by its own little wire cage.
The seller, the only living brother who was born in the 101 year old house, had left us a house warming present- a tomato plant. Something that was obviously important to him, something that must have grown well, in the same spot for more than 70 years.
I’ll be adding another 10 heirloom varieties to join the “New Girl,” perhaps a move I’ll regret later, as I’ll be up to my ears in tomatoes by summer’s end, but as a devoted tomato lover, that is exactly where I’d like to be.
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