I finally complete digging up my entire plot in the community garden yesterday. Overall, things are looking good. Tiny green beans have appeared on the plants, the first tomatoes are growing on the vine, and the squash and cucumber vines are growing by the day. Pictures to come...
Tonight was another salad night...I picked some really nice lettuce, and augmented it with a garlicy, mustardy potato salad, a corn and red pepper salad (accented by some fresh basil), and a red cabbage and carrot slaw, dressed with olive oil and some of my precious balsamic vinegar.
So here's the story on the vinegar. For my birthday, Glen gave me a completely extravagant gift card to Sur la Table. While I did buy some practical stuff, I was seduced by a $50 bottle of balsamic vinegar. (See the Villa Mondori balsamic at http://www.surlatable.com/common/products/product_details.cfm?PRRFNBR=13092) It really is true, that as far as vinegar is concerned, you get what you pay for. It is just really a different product, and it makes a very nice salad. Not to mention a nice accompaniment to strawberries, or a hunk of good Parmesan.
I have heard somewhere that, in Italy, there are people who carry tiny bottles of balsamic vinegar on chains around their necks, and they dole the precious contents out with an eyedropper. I don't think that I'll ever go that far...but I do understand where they are coming from.
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Sunday, June 12, 2005
June 12, 2005
Tonight we are having the first lettuce from the garden. Because I did not take over my plot until relatively late in the spring, and because it was full of weeds when I finally did take it over, I really did not have much of an opportunity to put in a spring garden. I did, however, plant some lettuce, so that I could have some fresh salad. For me, that is one of the most important things to grow in the garden, because it is a pain to make a special trip to the market just to buy lettuce.
I am planning on making a "bacon, lettuce and tomato salad." Here's what I'll do:
Thinly slice a shallot and saute in olive oil with some diced pancetta. After everything is cooked, let the oil cool a bit and add some sherry vinegar. Toss the dressing with some fresh lettuce and tomatoes.
We're going to have that with a roasted chicken and potatoes and what I'll call zucchini carpaccio. (Thinly sliced zucchini dressed with olive oil and lemon juice and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and freshly grated Parmesan and then baked for a bit.) We're going to drink a French Muscadet (Domaine de la Quilla), which is a very nice dry white wine. The Wall Street Journal wine columnists highlighted this wine in their column on Friday, and the Domaine de la Quilla was their top rated version. I was excited because I found it at our local discount wine place for a dollar less than the Wall Street Journal quoted as the average price. I ended up buying three bottles. (I find that the Wall Street Journal columnists are very good at recommending unsung heroes in the wine world, i.e. more obscure varieties that are pretty good buys. They also don't pull punches about what isn't a good value, e.g., cheap American merlot. We end up drinking a lot of French wine because it can be a pretty good value for basic, everyday wine. Of course, that is because the French tend to drink wine every day.)
And finally, in the "why didn't I ever think of this" department, I'll mention a very guilty pleasure I had yesterday: peanut butter melted in the microwave over vanilla ice cream topped with hot chocolate sauce. Wow. So good. And probably not so good for you. But every once in a while...it probably can't hurt too much. I can't remember where I encountered this idea; I saw it somewhere recently. The source escapes me, though thankfully the idea does not.
I am planning on making a "bacon, lettuce and tomato salad." Here's what I'll do:
Thinly slice a shallot and saute in olive oil with some diced pancetta. After everything is cooked, let the oil cool a bit and add some sherry vinegar. Toss the dressing with some fresh lettuce and tomatoes.
We're going to have that with a roasted chicken and potatoes and what I'll call zucchini carpaccio. (Thinly sliced zucchini dressed with olive oil and lemon juice and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and freshly grated Parmesan and then baked for a bit.) We're going to drink a French Muscadet (Domaine de la Quilla), which is a very nice dry white wine. The Wall Street Journal wine columnists highlighted this wine in their column on Friday, and the Domaine de la Quilla was their top rated version. I was excited because I found it at our local discount wine place for a dollar less than the Wall Street Journal quoted as the average price. I ended up buying three bottles. (I find that the Wall Street Journal columnists are very good at recommending unsung heroes in the wine world, i.e. more obscure varieties that are pretty good buys. They also don't pull punches about what isn't a good value, e.g., cheap American merlot. We end up drinking a lot of French wine because it can be a pretty good value for basic, everyday wine. Of course, that is because the French tend to drink wine every day.)
And finally, in the "why didn't I ever think of this" department, I'll mention a very guilty pleasure I had yesterday: peanut butter melted in the microwave over vanilla ice cream topped with hot chocolate sauce. Wow. So good. And probably not so good for you. But every once in a while...it probably can't hurt too much. I can't remember where I encountered this idea; I saw it somewhere recently. The source escapes me, though thankfully the idea does not.
Monday, June 06, 2005
June 6, 2005
It is even hotter today than it was yesterday, so I suppose that my tomatoes are even happier than they were. Glen and I are not so happy, because our air conditioning has not been functional as a result of some remodeling work in the basement. These are the times that try relationships with contractors.
I did take a stroll over to the community garden this afternoon, though it was too hot to work. I felt a little guilty, because I have the day off from work, so I probably should have tried to accomplish something. My mission, however, was to take a few pictures.
Here's the view to the south from my garden plot:
And here's my forlorn little plot itself:
As you can see, it needs some work.
Much to my dismay, I found that my garden plot was a crime scene. Sometime in the night, a creature had come along and helped him or herself to a fair quantity of leaves on my green beans. My guess is that it was a deer. (That's not as crazy as it sounds...the District is actually home to a fair number of deer in Rock Creek Park and Glover Park, which starts just a few blocks away from the garden.) If this keeps up, I suppose that I'll have to put up a fence. I was just distressed because I love haricots verts, and I'll be unhappy if I don't get any.
I did take a stroll over to the community garden this afternoon, though it was too hot to work. I felt a little guilty, because I have the day off from work, so I probably should have tried to accomplish something. My mission, however, was to take a few pictures.
Here's the view to the south from my garden plot:
And here's my forlorn little plot itself:
As you can see, it needs some work.
Much to my dismay, I found that my garden plot was a crime scene. Sometime in the night, a creature had come along and helped him or herself to a fair quantity of leaves on my green beans. My guess is that it was a deer. (That's not as crazy as it sounds...the District is actually home to a fair number of deer in Rock Creek Park and Glover Park, which starts just a few blocks away from the garden.) If this keeps up, I suppose that I'll have to put up a fence. I was just distressed because I love haricots verts, and I'll be unhappy if I don't get any.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
June 5, 2005
It is hot as Hades in D.C., but at least the tomatoes are happy. When I went over to the garden to water tonight, they actually looked a little perky. And the green beans are growing nicely. So, too, is the crab grass that infests my plot, which has suffered from a severe lack of tlc. Oh, well, I'll try to make some progress every weekend.
My challenge last night was to make dinner without having gone to the grocery store in a week. My theory is that there is always at least one more dinner that can be pulled together. Last night's ended up being very simple: a pair of salads served on some still passable romaine.
Salad 1: Cannellini Bean and Tuna Salad
Combine one can of drained cannellini beans, one can of tuna, some minced vidalia onion, some minced parsley, and 4 or 5 sliced oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, and then toss with some good olive oil and red wine vinegar.
Salad 2: Potato and Green Bean Salad
Dice a few cooked potatoes and toss with steamed french cut green beans, some minced vidalia onion, and some chopped carrots. Toss with a mustard vinaigrette.
Heap both of them on the lettuce, and you are ready to go.
At least I resisted the urge to use more of my life-changing balsamic vinegar. More about that later.
My challenge last night was to make dinner without having gone to the grocery store in a week. My theory is that there is always at least one more dinner that can be pulled together. Last night's ended up being very simple: a pair of salads served on some still passable romaine.
Salad 1: Cannellini Bean and Tuna Salad
Combine one can of drained cannellini beans, one can of tuna, some minced vidalia onion, some minced parsley, and 4 or 5 sliced oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, and then toss with some good olive oil and red wine vinegar.
Salad 2: Potato and Green Bean Salad
Dice a few cooked potatoes and toss with steamed french cut green beans, some minced vidalia onion, and some chopped carrots. Toss with a mustard vinaigrette.
Heap both of them on the lettuce, and you are ready to go.
At least I resisted the urge to use more of my life-changing balsamic vinegar. More about that later.
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