Hungry Times Two

The new kids on the block: Big Genovese basil on left, Pesto basil on right After several weeks of unimpressive basil growth from three plants - two Italian large leaf and one Sweet Thai -- in our herb garden at the head of our driveway, I gave up and booked it to the garden center this week. I purchased two plants - a large Genovese and a small-ish Pesto basil - and sought growing tips from the garden center owner. He advised that I plant these in containers instead of in the ground, and fertilize them. I'm already excited about the potential for these two and I plan on transplanting the Thai basil to a container to see if I can salvage it and increase the leaf-age. It would be great for the Thai Summer Shrimp Rolls I want to make but have procrastinated since forever - so much that I should probably double check the rice paper wrappers in our pantry for the expiry date. Below is a photo of our herb garden. It also has two varieties of Oregano that exploded with growth la...

Just pulled up the collards and some baby spinach, cilantro and parsley for tonight's dinner of frittata and salad. Loretta helped. It's so chilly and damp - hard to believe its nearly time to plant for spring. Then again, it was nearly 80 on Saturday! We're not sure if we will keep the garden up if we move by late June. I'd love to continue with the salad greens and herbs for now. A $250 investment for a little bit of green stuff? Well, it's worth the education at least. Happy Monday evening, y'all.

I just had a moment. After retrieving my leftover brown rice and veggie stir fry from the microwave, and tossing out the empty shells of edamame I just snacked on, something occurred to me as I grabbed my reusable bamboo silverware . I am eating so freakin' crunchy right now.

I introduce to you our new segment, "We've Got It Made." I know, right - cheesy yet oh-so-catchy. You may now roll your eyes, and continue reading, thanks. It's..wow...almost October, and while the last of the warm weather temps are fleeting and fading, we noticed our basil plants in our communal neighborhood garden are doing the same. Scott and I wanted to take advantage of the lovely herbs while they're still present and accounted for, so on Saturday night after a full afternoon of kayaking up and down the Potomac River, we set out to make pesto. Scott inspected the plants. And picked and picked and picked - two cups worth! I checked out the huge-ass pumpkins growing in the garden. And mourned the sad decline of beautiful sunflowers. Once inside, we combined forces to blend the basil, garlic, grated Parmesan cheese, pine nuts and olive oil, using the ever-handy The Joy Of Cooking's recipe . Indeed a joy. Yum. I boiled some fettuccine regate noodles (th...

Oh, how I lurve you, mint. You lend your refreshing, tingly herbal notes to many a fine thing: tea and tabbouleh, to name a few, and even the nostalgia of childhood, those Star Brights Mints my Grandmother Coxey used to keep in her candy dish. (I'd unwrap them and gobble them in secret, stuffing the plastic wrappers between the couch cushions. But nevermind that.) Our mint plant is doing remarkably well, so I plan on using it as much as I can while it's alive and kickin .' A great way to do so: a Rice Noodle salad with a Vietnamese lean. Yes, another Cooking Light recipe. I swear that cookbook is the best two dollars I ever spent! I made this salad last night, using baked salmon in place of the tofu. It was fresh and light and a great departure from the usual Jasmine rice and veggie stir fry we usually eat. Scott's contribution was trekking out to gather some herbs from our mint plant, currently "squatting" with our neighbors' garden goodness (inclu...