Green Thumb Update

One of my readers had asked for an update on how my little city herb garden was growing and it occurred to me that it certainly has been a while since I've provided an update.  (Thanks for the reminder Terrianne!)  My little herbies are doing well, although it was touch-and-go for a while with my cilantro plant.  That sucker just didn't want to grow.  On the other hand, my basil plant has totally taken off.  I'm just waiting for some fresh tomatoes to show up at the farmer's market and then its hello yumminess!  Here are some pictures on how my little guys are doing...

Aren't they just the cutest?

Something's Happening!!!!

A couple weeks ago, I started my own little make-shift herb garden from two cleaned out tomato cans (it's all very Green of me, I know) and I noticed today, that they were actually starting to grow!  Not that I didn't expect them to grow, but it's sort of an amazing feeling coming home to some cute little sprouts and knowing that I made that happen.   It looks like the cilantro is really starting to sprout and the basil might be a little behind but that's okay, I know it will have a strong finish.  I can't wait until they get to full size, then the fun can really begin!  Salsa and salad and sauce..OH MY!

Here's a couple of shots of my little herbies..Aren't they cute?

I'm Gonna Plant One On You!

Or maybe I should say that I'm gonna plant two on you?  Two herbs that is, and for two reasons.  First, with it being such a beautiful spring day in Beantown, I wanted to harness some of that new spring plant life by taking a stab at starting my own city windowsill herb garden.  (How very green of me) There is something about growing your own herbs that just takes that homemade creativity to a new level.  Secondly, I'm frugal by nature and I'm embarrassed to reveal how much I actually spend on fresh herbs.  Since my cooking style tends to rely heavily upon delicious fresh herbs, clearly, something needs to be done.

Now, before I get to today's horticultural adventures, I should back up a bit and tell you how this project was a long time in the making and got started when I fell in love with the design of these cans of tomatoes.  (It's really not every day that one can say that, is it?) Ever the fan of a vintage decor (think brightly colored 1920's advertisements), I wanted to come up with some use for these pretty little cans.  So I bought two a while back and used up the contents, washed them out and then put them aside.  Then today, while at the grocery store, I came across cilantro and basil seeds for sale and thought that today might be the day to use those cans.  After a quick trip to the hardware store to get some potting soil, I was in business.  Now I'll just have to wait for these little seedlings to grow, allowing me to harvest my first crop.  If all goes well, that should be within the next couple of weeks.  I'm already dreaming of salsas and pestos and sorts of other uses for my little herbs....

Click on the link at the bottom of this page to jump to the instructions on how to test out your own green thumb in the city.  Happy gardening!

Grocery shopping 101

I love grocery shopping. To me, it’s a sport as well as an art. I love leisurely navigating the aisles with my cart, going up every aisle (at least once) so to properly analyze and select the components of my next culinary creation. And since my local grocery store installed these laser-like scanners, grocery shopping almost feels more like a fun game of laser tag than the chore that it is often associated with. These scanners are available to store card holders and are used to scan items so that they can go right into the bag. To cash out, you just scan your laser, pay, and go. It's really quite brilliant.

That being said, I absolutely hate grocery shopping on Sundays in the city. It seems that my entire neighborhood waits until Sunday afternoon to head in mobs to the one little Stop and Shop. The problem with that is that the store looks like the aftermath of a bad Nor’easter. Vegetables are so picked over if available at all, random yogurt flavors (the kinds that no one likes) are sparsely scattered throughout the dairy case. And you can forget about having any sort of great meat or bread selection. It just won’t happen on a Sunday.
It is the all of these factors that make me deem Sunday’s not appropriate for me to go food shopping. Instead, I prefer to wait for Monday to do my shopping so that I can happily stroll through each aisle, taking my time and savoring the experience. (Yes, I like grocery shopping that much). The only downfall to this plan of mine is the occasional Monday where Boston is experiencing some serious monsoon weather. Fierce wind gusts are slapping the pouring rain around and the streets have partial flooding. On my way home from work, I literally had to pause to hold on to a tree in the middle of Copley for fear of being blown away. This clearly is no night to do cartwheels down the aisles of my Stop and Shop, no this is a night to stay in and enjoy a Spanish omelet and save my grocery shopping for another day.

Since we are on the subject of grocery shopping, I thought that I might take this opportunity to provide you with some grocery shopping tips that I use to help me on my shopping endeavors. Please note that these are in no particular order.

Top Ten Small Kitchen Must-Haves

It seems that the lights of my Small Boston Kitchen will be out for the second consecutive night as a head cold has temporarily robbed me of my sense of smell and has altered my taste buds, making cooking a little bit challenging. Not wanting to post a recipe and endorse something I can't fully test out in my own kitchen, I thought I'd take this opportunity to try share my top 10 list of favorite cooking tools that I wouldn't dream of not having in my kitchen.

Lately it seems, I can't help but notice the excessive number of kitchen tools out there on the market. There is now a tool for every basic function in the kitchen and it can get overwhelming and distracting for a food nerd like me. Often times I find myself in a kitchen store talking myself out of buying a tool that is specially designed for one small purpose like scrubbing mushrooms or slicing corn off the cob. Tempting as it is, why clutter my kitchen and waste my money?

On the flip side of that, there are tools that I just can't live without and I think that they contribute to what I am able to create in my kitchen and need a little recognition. Just to preface this list, I am not compensated (unfortunately) in any way by any of these sellers and the below list is entirely my own opinion of what I find to be most useful to me in my culinary endeavors.

10. Magnetic Spice Jars

Theses are perfect for all those small kitchens out there, keeping your most used herbs and spices right at your fingertips and displaying them in a modern artistic way. You can stick these to the side of your refrigerator or any other metal surface for that matter. I also like to create my own rubs and spice mixes to put in these to keep them handy. The only drawback to these is that they don't have any labels to them so if you don't feel comfortable relying on your nose to tell you what's what, you'll have to create your own labels and tape them to the sides of jars.