We've been wanting to plant stuff other than marigolds and herbs, but the ground is just not yielding. Since the ground is too hard to till without something with a motor (we'll do that at the end of the season and get it ready for next year), we were looking for raised bed ideas. I've been researching for weeks, and everything was so expensive, even if I built it myself. I found a container gardening system at Home Depot that would work, but it was about two square feet and over $40 just for the container. I was giving up hope that we could do this with any sort of a budget. A trip to Ollie's today solved the problem - a plastic pond liner on clearance for $30. It's larger than the container garden at HD, and multi-leveled. The Man and I discussed it, and figured it would work with a little modification. Holes punched in the bottom, a bag of rocks, and four bags of topsoil resulted in just what I was looking for. The different levels are helpful for different kinds of plants, and with the smaller pots propping up the one end that might cause problems, I think it worked out splendidly. I broke up the bunches that were already in the pots, giving the lemon balm and lavender their own pot, the cilantro a place with some marigolds, and the rest of the marigolds, oregano, sage, thyme and parsley a home in the new bed. I added a pineapple sage, basilico and opal basils, plum tomatoes and an heirloom striped beefsteak tomato. In the third pot is an heirloom yellow bell pepper. I had one bag of mulch left over, so I spread that around, but I'll probably add more. I must say, I am rather proud of myself. The peppers are already standing straight up, and everything else looks happy in their new home. I never thought I'd be able to grow anything but kids.
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It's Saturday, so of course it must be raining. Eh, I'm getting used to it. Through the generosity of a fellow culinarian, I had ten pounds of chicken backs bestowed upon me. Time to make real stock! Chicken backs are ideal for this - a good ratio between bone and meat makes for a stock rich with flavor and gelatin. I roast mine first, low and slow (300* oven until they are well browned all over). About half way in this process, I add my mirepoix, otherwise known as carrot, celery and onion. No, don't peel anything, and yes, use the parts that you would normally throw out like celery leaves and the tough outer stalks. Roughly chopped, they are added to the pan as well. If I am making a darker stock, like beef, lamb or veal, I'll add a bit of tomato paste or some chopped fresh tomatoes to give it some additional richness and color. Once these are all nice and browned, into the stock pot they go, with lots of cold water, a handful of fresh herbs, some bay leaves, a bit of sea salt and peppercorns. This gets to simmer until I decide it's done, making a rich chicken stock. Did you know that there is a difference between stock and broth? Stock is made with bones, broth is made with meat. Broth is good for a quickie recipe, but given the time, I'll spend a day making a great stock. Now, to the bread issue. If you know me, you know I made outstanding bread. 140 pounds of challah every Friday for over a year proved this fact beyond a shadow of a doubt. Since I can't eat traditional bread anymore, I was very bummed to say the least. I figured I would just do without bread for all of eternity. Yeah, right. We sell a lot of Udi's GF breads, and when this type went on sale I thought I would give it a shot. My first impression is that it is a bit dry, but not completely unpalatable. Then I ate some more, with peanut butter, then toasted with butter and jam, and I must say I am impressed. No, it's not challah, but it is pretty darn good. Grabbed another loaf yesterday, and I think I might branch out into other flavors as well. I will be doing my own baking soon enough, but for now, this will definitely hit the spot when I need a sandwich. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHWYjMlYH50
A friend of mine told me about this months ago but I never looked at the video. Well, the vid resurfaced today and I took some time to check it out. Holy schmoley! Cotton string, acetone, a match and a sink full of water is all that is needed to get a clean cut through any bottle. I can't wait to try this! I came to a decision, and it wasn't an easy one to make. I contacted a good friend of mine and got the number for a great doctor, one of those rare medicos that will actually listen to a patient and take even the smallest of symptoms into account. I hate doctors, but I'm just not improving. I have my mom and The Man very worried, and I have to admit I'm getting concerned.
On an a happier note, I made fritatta last night for dinner. Crustless quiche, baked omelette, whatever you want to call it, make sure you call it awesome. Mushrooms (which The Man says he doesn't like) and onions were slow cooked in a heavy oven safe skillet with really great bacon and lots of fresh thyme until everything was very caramelized and really yummy. Nine eggs were beaten with about a 1/4 cup of heavy cream, salt and pepper. Just before pouring the eggs into the pan, I added a couple of handfuls of kale, fine chiffonade, letting it barely wilt. Pour the eggs over and bake at 350* until puffed and set, about 30 minutes. As soon as it came out of the oven, I gave it a nice cloud of smoked cheddar with the microplane. The Man seemed to enjoy it, a nice light supper after a long day at work. I had a small wedge this morning for breakfast, and it will get finished tonight with a salad of spinach, toasted almonds, feta and strawberries in a strawberry balsamic vinaigrette. I don't know why I'm not improving, but I remain stalwart. I'm eating gently, resting as much as possible and taking all of my supplements. I tried some yoga today to see if I could stretch out my joints, and it wasn't the best of ideas. I did spend some quiet time meditating in the sun, though, and that felt good, improving my outlook a little. Three weeks down, three weeks to go before the gluten poisoning is out of my system completely. If I could survive being in labor with my beloved son for three days (yes, THREE DAYS), I can handle just about anything. Tomorrow it is back to work, with chicken soup in my mini Crock for lunch, and apples and celery with peanut butter for snacks. I can do this!
Still feeling sick. Took half the day off, thanks to my cheese angel Susan being able to come in early, and have done nothing but watch House of Cards and eat rice with chicken stock. Pain in the bones is bad, and I've got a psuedo migraine, and I hope tomorrow is better.
Today was a tough day at work. Still swollen and aching, with insides that are really doing their best to become outsides, I trudge to work early in the morning. Mondays are crazy and there is no choice but to go in. Armed with my Zyflamend, Tulsi tea, homeopathic anti-spasm tummy meds and as good of an attitude as I can muster, I face the day. It was not easy, but it was certainly productive. I managed to get a meeting with my boss's boss to discuss scheduling issues that I have, with my boss's full support. I got a whole lot of work done and didn't completely exhaust myself. I made my wonderful cheese maiden Susan smile when I told her about the aforementioned meeting, which always does my heart good. I sold a whole bunch of cheese to some really nice people, and I found short ribs to cook for dinner. (I had been craving them all day long.) So, I've decided to look at the little things and find joy in them. One of the present happy little things is having the ribs on the stove on low, the rice in the cooker on warm, and The Man on his way home while I lay down with my feet up resting. Now if I can only stay awake long enough to make him a plate when he gets in....
Well, I had to work, so I couldn't spend the day in bed like I wanted to. Joints were aching, swollen and on fire. Tummy was even worse than that. But a small part of me was rejoicing in the knowledge that I must be on the right path to getting better.
Saturday is my day off with The Man. We have days when there is nothing particular pressing that needs to get accomplished, and then there are days like yesterday. First, I cooked him an awesome breakfast of fried potatoes with onion and garlic, seared filet mignon and scrambled eggs with garlic herb chevre. (The same coupon that brought lobster to our house brought filet.) Then it was off to the mall to get me a new outfit for the day. God I hate to shop. I hate to shop more than just about anything in the world. It gives me an anxiety attack and a sick stomach. Between the body issues that I have and the price of clothing, I would rather chew glass than shop. I do it as infrequently as necessity allows for; this time there was no getting out of it. So to the dreaded mall I went, and found something suitable in about an hour. Then, I had to rush home and beautify myself. Next on the list was a party to celebrate the prom of one of my favorite people on the planet and I had to look good. Alex Notte, his mom Kristine (both pictured), sister Arielle and dad Richard became part of my life about a year ago when they started attending my cooking class. Alex is a very special person, and he loves food, so he was a perfect fit for us. Well, this very special young man is the most fearless person I have ever met. When it came time to find someone to go to prom with, he does what most men wouldn't have the courage to do. He sends LPGA golfer Belen Mozo a video invitation. No surprise, she said yes, as any woman that has spent five minutes with Alex would do. Kristine threw a reception to celebrate this very special day, and I wasn't missing it for the world. All of the rain that we've had for the last few weeks seemed to know that this was not a day to fall, and the weather was perfect for the party. Unfortunately we had to jet before his date arrived, she was fashionably late, but I've seen the pictures and she was almost as pretty as he was. http://www.knoxnews.com/photos/2013/may/11/347555/ The evening was just beginning... Dinner at Puleo's Grille with our very dear friends Sarah and Paul presented the second problem of the day (the first was shopping. I HATE shopping, but I think I may have mentioned that... moving on...). What does one that can't have wheat order in a restaurant that doesn't have a GF menu? Not the easiest of tasks. I finally settled on a grilled pork chop which the server assured me was not floured prior to cooking. Well, the chop may not be, but there was certainly something in the sauce. Add to that the fact that everything on the plate had some sort of hot peppers in them, it was not the easiest meal to eat. But, eat I did, and followed it with a couple of Zyflamend and a half a Benedryl.
(Please don't think that this is not a good restaurant - it is! We have never had a bad meal, and still haven't. I just selected badly, and didn't ask all of the right questions. I highly recommend Puleo's Grille to everyone!) Leaving Paul to go home to rest, he is recovering from a somewhat major surgery, Sarah, The Man and I hit the local gay club, Club XYZ and The Zipper Room for Night of a 1000 Dollys. An all Dolly Parton drag show, with the most incredible hostess, Razz. http://clubxyz-knoxville.com/ I swear, I've driven past this place a dozen times and never knew it existed. Unassuming from the outside, boy is it the opposite on the inside. My history with queens is long but all Northern. These Southern queens sure know how to throw a party. The performances were great, the service was friendly and fun, and a great time was had by all. Very much looking forward to going there again soon. We got home very late, tired but smiling. Days where all we do is run sometimes get to me, but not this time. I got to see my favorite people, had tons of fun and learned a few lessons along the way. My stomach is not in the best of shape today, and all of my joints are swollen. I guess until I get the hang of this, only restaurants with GF menus are acceptable. I guess it also proves that I'm on the right track with this lifestyle change, and I need to really stick it out for the full two months. http://tweentribune.com/tween/pro-golfer-going-prom-special-needs-student https://www.facebook.com/pages/Club-XYZ/499364900273?rf=170982062924923 http://www.yelp.com/biz/puleos-grille-knoxville-2 |