How Does Your Garden Grow? | 2011, Update 2

It's been a month since I gave the last update on our little garden on the balcony, and the plants are well on their way to taking over their corner of the world.

Fortunately, the basil has come in handy more times than I can count, and it just keeps doubling in size every time I check on it.

Last month, it was tiny!

We tried our first strawberry tonight...

...it was NOT ripe. (Note to Hubs: Do not pick strawberries the first day they are super red.)

Last month, there weren't even flowers yet.

We also had our first peas...

...they were also not ripe.

(I'm sensing a theme, here.)

Last month, they barely reached over the planter.

The edible flowers are finally blooming...

...and I still have no idea what they are called.

The thyme is becoming a bush...

...and we still haven't used any.

And! We haven't bought any additional plants. Shocking? Definitely.

How Does your Garden Grow? Update 1!

The last few weeks have been pretty exciting in our garden.  Things have been growing pretty quickly, and we keep adding to it.

Most recently, we purchased 4 more little tomato plants.  Since we have 5 tomato plants now, and since it gets pretty windy on our balcony, we thought it was probably a good time to buy some tomato cages.


This also meant that Hubs got to use his prized angle grinder again to cut down the height of the cages.

(You can see the sparks hitting the mint plant on the right-hand side if you look closely.)


Now our tomatoes are nice and protected...but more importantly, of course, Hubs got to use his angle grinder.

Cocktail!

Last night, we had our first cocktail hour to break in the new bar.  Stephen was so excited that he even cleaned the whole house in preparation for the event (yes, you heard me correctly!).

A few of his friends from work showed up and good times were had by all.  Stephen demonstrated how to "float" rum on top of an Orangutan (or, as Joe pronounced it, "Orange-you-tan") and decided to make us all a "light after dinner shot" (whatever that means) with rum and pineapple juice.

The night ended with a spirited game of Catch Words (think Catchphrase) on the iPhone where Joe kept screaming out the word he was supposed to be describing...yes, just like the "Elizabeth Taylor!" incident.

Obsessed

Hi, my name is Amanda, and I am obsessed.

With Cook's Illustrated.

When we first got to Musky Hunt, Theresa whipped out a magazine that I had never seen before called Cook's Illustrated. Not just any Cook's Illustrated...the "All-Time Best Recipes" edition. As I initially paged through it, I will fully admit that I was unimpressed. I was so used to the flashy, sensory-overloaded cooking magazines that this seemed about as interesting as stale bread to me. It was mostly text. What little pictures they did have were in black and white. It certainly wasn't the light vacation reading I was looking forward to.

But then I started reading...and really? Wow. This magazine is like the Consumer Reports for anyone who loves cooking. They test all sorts of things, from the best vanilla extract (plain old McCormick) to the best saran wrap. Not only that, all their recipes are tested and re-tested until they are just right.

Take, for example, pie crusts. Cook's Illustrated wasn't content with the status quo pie crust of shortening, butter, flower, salt, and water. You know the one...it breaks easily, is barely flaky, and so finicky that you're ready to throw it out the window by the time you've spent an hour and a half mixing, chilling, rolling, chilling... You get the point.

CI decided to put pie crusts to the test. They tried tons of combinations and explained why each one didn't work. And then they published the mother of all pie crust recipes...using vodka. (Yes, now you can justify your purchase of a jug of vodka! Rejoyce!)

Armed with a new subscription to CI and their recipe for pumpkin pie, I decided to put them to the test.

As promised, the crust came together like a charm. In fact, it came together better than any other pie crust I had ever made. Since there is so much more liquid in the crust and the alcohol cooks off while baking, the dough is quite a bit stickier than a traditional recipe would be...but you're allowed to use up to 1/4 cup of flour while rolling it out, thereby solving that problem.

The pie filling itself was pretty interesting. CI said they were out to solve the problem of pumpkin pies not actually tasting like pumpkins, so they added things like fresh ginger, candied yams, and maple syrup to bring out the pumpkin flavor. I was definitely skeptical, but these people obviously know what they are doing.

In the end, I think it was the best pumpkin pie I have ever tasted. The hubby thinks it needs more "pumpkin pie spice"...eh. That's easily fixed.


The point is, I am obsessed with Cook's Illustrated and that's not going to end any time soon.

Say it isn't so...

My Dearest DG Farmer's Market,

Say it isn't so. Please, please, please tell me that you're not gone until next year. I don't know where the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday that I spotted you from around the corner while sipping my Caribou iced latte on the first days of my DG residence.

I know I have been busy, and I know that's no excuse. You and I both know that given the chance, I often chose sleeping in on Saturday mornings instead of seeing you. But please understand that I never meant to take you for granted. I appreciate every little aspect of you.

I appreciate that I am able to get beautiful, delicious, and organic produce from you. This simple gift has yielded countless delectable dishes carefully prepared in my new home. I savored the fresh peach pie, devoured the delicious guacamole that only you made possible. Trust me, Jewel means nothing to me compared to you.


I appreciate that I am able to get my fill of fellow Dutchmen from you. You see, since I moved to this area, the Dutch are few and far between. But you? You provide the gift of wooden shoe fellowship, fresh flowers, and even flowering kale. We've had conversations about growing up around Lansing, relatives that attended Illiana, and how there is an insurance agent with my old last name that everyone seems to know.



The leaves are beginning to change colors and the air is crisp. I can feel that change is here...but yet, I find it so hard to say goodbye to you. I should have spent more time with you smelling the roses and learning about your friends. I can only promise to be better next year, when we meet again. Next year, I will make it up to you.

Until then, let's have one last meal together. There is a stand that makes the most amazing crepes right in front of your eyes. The butter and cinnamon one is to die for. So let's sit together with a hot cup of apple cider sprinkled with cinnamon, and dream about the day when we meet again and this bittersweet separation is a thing of the past.

Until next year...

Breaking the Silence

Apparently it has been an entire month since the last time I posted anything. That also means that it has been an entire month since I have been on vacation. While the realization of that tiny fact is enough to make me cry myself to sleep, I come bearing good news.

WE NOW HAVE A REFRIGERATOR WITH SHELVES!!!!! (In case the scrolling marquee is not working for you, it says, "WE NOW HAVE A REFRIGERATOR WITH SHELVES!!!!!")

Not only does it have shelves, it is BEAUTIFUL. As Mrs. Chen put it, it's my kitchen "bling."

We won't go into the details of how I managed this (which may or may not have included a standoff in Home Depot where I refused to move until we actually purchased the darn thing), but it was delivered last week right before I went to go babysit this little cutie pie.


But this acquisition was not without issues. There may have also been a moment (week) of panic where we weren't sure if it was going to fit. Of course we measured the width of the opening where it would stand, but we forgot to measure something else.

You see, as we were literally purchasing the refrigerator, I happened to notice a small sign saying something to the effect of, "don't forget to measure ALL entryways that the appliance will be going through." Hmm.

So when we got home, I quietly took out the tape measure and measured the opening to the kitchen. 30 inches.


Our refrigerator? 33 inches. At its smallest spot.

This led to a series of events that I am not too proud to admit, including Stephen cutting (more) holes in the wall to find out the construction of the interior wall and deciding to cut away 5 inches from the wall...and then a phone call to a certain father-in-law where they both determined to just "wait and see" what happened when it was delivered.

I? Was not too keen on that path forward. As soon as Stephen was out of town, Holly and I marched over to Home Depot to measure the thing sans doors. 27.5 inches. Phew.

When they finally arrived to deliver the fridge a week and a half later, they had some initial issues getting it to fit through the entryway...but eventually, it did.

And now nothing falls out when I open the door.

VICTORY!!!

I'm (not) down with that

One of the best presents I have ever received was my very first down comforter. If you don't have a real down comforter, you are missing out!

However, one setback to owning a down comforter is cleaning a down comforter. Technically, they are supposed to be dry clean only. All major down comforter makers vehemently caution against washing your down comforter yourself.

That being said, I think they are jerks. And quite frankly, I don't like the idea of being swathed in goodness-only-knows what kind of chemicals they use at the dry cleaners every night while I sleep. And paying for it to boot!

So I took the fate of my cherished down comforter into my own hands and began researching how to clean a down comforter at home. There is a whole community of anti-dry cleaning rebels out there who provided the necessary information for me to get started.

With a hope and quite a few prayers, I began.

Step 1: Buy tennis balls. I know this may seem strange, and I will fully admit that it took me awhile to figure out the logic behind this, but tennis balls help break up the wet pockets of down during the drying process. I have also read that you can use a (clean, obvs.) canvas tennis shoe. Who knew?

Step 2: Steal Borrow some white socks from your husband.
Stay with me here. I promise to explain why.

Step 3: Put the tennis balls into the socks and tie shut.
Lucky for me, my hubs wears a size 15, so I could easily tie the end in a knot.

Step 4: Load the comforter into the washer.
It is recommended that you wash a down comforter in a front-load washer. Something about it spinning all of the water out and agitators not being able to clean large things well. Whatevs. This is when I am thankful for a laundry room with 2 different types of washers.

Step 5: Shut the door, say a prayer, and step. away. from. the. machine.
This is where I started to panic. As I watched the door lock and the water pour over my precious comforter, the one that I spent all this time breaking in, the one that is the perfect size, and the keeps the perfect temperature, and holds countless memories of nights snuggled on the couch watching movies, I realized that there was a very real chance that this thing could burst at the seams and I'd have nothing left but a pile of feathers...and then I'd have to clean them out while drowning in my own tears. But I forced myself to step away and not come back until the cycle was done.

Step 6: If your comforter survived the washer, load it into the dryer.I don't technically have a picture of this because my building manager was in the laundry room and I'm sure she thought I was crazy enough carrying around socks with tennis balls in them, but you get the picture.

Be warned that the comforter WILL smell like a wet goose (use your imagination) when you take it out of the washer, but the smell goes away once it is completely dry.

Anywho, take those socked tennis balls (I used 3), and throw them in the dryer with the comforter. This task might be D near impossible if you don't have a commercial-sized dryer since there won't be enough room for the comforter to fluff and dry, but my building has one, so come use mine if you need to.

Step 7: Keep drying until COMPLETELY dry. You don't want to take the chance of sleeping with mildew wrapped around you. :::Barf::: Mine took about 45 minutes to dry.

Step 8: Remove your freshly cleaned down comforter and give it a welcome back hug.And don't forget to say a big 'Sorry, SUCKAHS!' to the dry cleaners of the world.

What's laying in front of the elevators?

As I've mentioned before, I will fully admit that I was spoiled with the household amenities I had in C'ville. Now that I've moved into a condo, there are some things I no longer have that I dearly miss, such as: a garage, a dishwasher (nope, still don't have one), a fridge with SHELVES (nope, still don't have one of these either), a backyard, a garden, and my very own laundry room.

Since we're not allowed to have a washer or dryer, I have to use the coin-operated laundry room on the first floor. There are some obvious benefits to this situation (like having access to 3 washers/dryers at once if needed), but there are also some obvious downfalls, too.



Tonight, I encountered a few of those downfalls.

1. I ran into a friendly neighbor while I looked like crap. Gone are the days of being able to do laundry in nothing but a towel because all of my clothes are in the laundry.
2. I had to make 4 trips to the laundry room because the clothes weren't done at the same time even though they were started at the same time.
3. I burned myself 3 times on different metal clothing components taking them out of the much-hotter-than-my-old-dryer-and-probably-hotter-than-my-oven commercial dryer.

And, as the icing on the cake,

4. As I was walking down the hallway on my 4th trip to the laundry room, I noticed 2 small lumps on the floor. Could it be? Yep. Two pairs of my underwear laying right in front of the elevator.

Sigh.

Update: Lights out!

As you may recall from my previous post, I spent an hour (or two) in Home Depot trying to decide on a light fixture for the kitchen before finally buying one. Then Stephen spent about an hour hanging up the light, aaannndddd within another hour, it was obvious that the light just wasn't going to work.

The problem is that the power source for the kitchen light is off-center. Apparently since they hung those huge uggo rectangular fluorescent lamps in the kitchens here, they didn't need to be centered in the middle of the kitchen. This wouldn't be a problem if the lights were more towards the cabinets/counters...but they are pretty far away from them. The light that I bought was just a round fixture with 3 lights, but that left the most important part of the kitchen in the dark. And no, there are no pictures of the infamous light fixture because I hated it so much.

On Saturday, Stephen and I both went back to Home Depot to find a new light fixture. It was pretty clear that this task was harder than Stephen thought, too, because he kept pacing the aisles like I did a few weeks prior.

We finally ended up with a flexible track lighting system...but we were pretty skeptical that it wouldn't look off-center too.

After my awesome husband spent over an hour hanging this fixture, we have a keeper.