Author Archive
Apartment Gardening Update: Basil Gone Wild
Posted by: | CommentsWell, well, well – turns out all you need for a happy, healthy basil plant is some good potting soil, a window with moderate sunlight and lots o’ water. The trial-and-error period for this indoor plant is over, as evidenced by the way my plant is drunkenly growing all over the place. (I’m so proud.) Look at that baby grow! To get the same results in your kitchen, I have found that every other day, I need to water the entire circumference of the plant (as in, the entire soil area underneath the full breadth of the leaves. I also suggest a window with moderate sun – this particular one in the house receives about 7-9 hours of a sun a day, though I think the plant could fare on less if need be.
Check out that drunken basil, falling all over itself!
A little quieter, but no less steady, is the sage growing under the same circumstances. To my surprise, it enjoys just as much water as the basil. This week, I’ll look up some recipes that require sage – so stay tuned how it tastes in a dish.
Not quite as big, but definitely growing is the sage.
Faring less well as been the rosemary and thyme also potted in the plant, which is a huge bummer. I have to think that either a.) the basil and sage are hogging all of their water and nutrients or b.) they don’t require as much water as the other two and maybe are being overwatered. To mitigate, I’m going to use the remaining seeds from the packets and try again – except this time, I’m going to give each their own individual pot to see what combo works best for them to grow.
Know any other herbs that grow hardily indoors? If so, I’m all ears!
The edible, incredible brown bag lunch
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One of the things I spend the most money on – which never fails to make me sad – is lunch. In our neck of the woods here in Manhattan, the average lunch is approximately $8-$10. Compounded over a year, that is a potential spendings of more than $2,250! You could take yourself to Europe on that kind of money and eat far better meals than my go-to spot of choice, Chipotle! (No offense, Chipotle, love you.)
However, if you’re like me, one of the hardest parts of bringing our own lunch is making it exciting to eat. That why I was so pumped to see this post on Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn, which has ten easy lunches you can toss together. I liked these ideas because they are the other thing lunch must be – easy to make. Check out the link here!
Do you have any easy lunch ideas that are quick to toss together and hit the spot? I feel a good series on that coming on.
Faux-Casso: The Harlequin Fleur-de-Lis Painting, Part 1
Posted by: | CommentsLast fall, I took a ten day trip to Italy that more or less changed my life. But one of the things I came back with – besides an expanded waistline from all the food – was a deep love of the Fleur-de-Lis, which is the emblem of the city of Florence. When I started thinking about decorating the master bedroom in the new apartment (yes, six months after I moved in because that’s how I roll), I wanted to make a painting that incorporated the symbol in some way.
The Fleur-de-Lis
So I started Googling Fleur-de-Lis paintings and came across a surprising number that used the symbol against a checkered harlequin background. I fell in love with the combo because it would a perfect compliment to our new bedspread, which as you might recall, looks like this:
After the jump, part one of how I am making the painting to match!
Please Help! Fixing a Stuffed Mushroom Disaster.
Posted by: | CommentsAs many of you know, I’m taking the month of August to be vegan. I have reached heights of dizzying success! I have also reached the depths of despair (not an exaggeration. I miss steak terribly.) Mostly, I’ve netted somewhere in the middle. Like with the following recipe, which I’m hoping our lovely readers – more talented chefs than I – might help with.
In short, I really wanted to try and make some kind of stuffed mushroom. And I was so very close to making something delicious. Alas – I did not. I’m hoping that if I post my ingredients, someone out there might help me out with ideas to make it better. Because this was simply just an amalgamation of vegetables that tasted like…an amalgamation of vegetables. I teased this post last week, but am about five days late in actually posting it. So…sorry about that.
- Artichoke hearts (the ones I used were from the actual artichoke)
- Portobello mushrooms
- Cherry tomatoes
My cooking process and photos after the jump. Read More→
How To: Grandma’s Artichokes
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One of the great loves of my life - the artichoke.
Anyone who knows me well, knows there are two things I really like about myself: my incredible cursing ability and my Italian/Irish-ness. This post, this time anyway, is about the latter.
I consider it one of the great priveleges of my childhood to have had an Italian grandmother. Visits to her house are what I hold responsible for my love of eating – because as a kid, visits to Grandma’s meant something delicious was on its way to my stomach. That feeling of excitement for food – especially for Italian food – has never really left me. No matter what time we arrived, she would have a five course meal on the table within minutes – with plenty of extras of everyone’s favorite thing. In my case, that was artichokes. I would eat three or four at a clip – which is impressive for an eight year old, I think.
Over the years, I’ve tried to recreate my grandmother’s recipe many times. And while I’ve never been able to make an exact replica (I think I’m missing the special touch that only a 77 year old woman can give) I have come close. Here is the recipe.
Liberated Movement
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Image courtesy of Liberated Movement
Okay, so maybe it’s not exactly crafty, and has nothing to do with food, but we believe in ladies who strive to create something different and we want to support innovation when we see it!
Tonight, I took a dance class at Liberated Movement in NYC – which is a donation-based dance studio in downtown Manhattan. (We were tipped off by the lovely ladies of 89th and Broke.) I love, love, love my donation-based yoga studio and so I wanted to do my part and try to help this idea on its way to success as well.
Me and two friends – the lovely and talented Alicia and the always spicy Mari of Calimari – tried our hand at hip-hop dance class. The choreography was fast, and we didn’t always get it right (okay, we didn’t get it right at all) but we broke a sweat and had some laughs — and there are certainly worse ways to spend an evening. Also – the staff was extremely friendly, moreso than those at the city’s more established dance studios, which can be incredibly intimidating for those just looking for fun and exercise. Best of all, there is no $15 fee or class cards – pay what you wish and dance when you can. Can’t beat that.
If you’re in the New York area, love to dance and want to support women making the arts accessible to all – we highly encourage you to go take a class! Tell them we sent you!
Learn to Sew at Make Workshop
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The sunny Make Workshop. (Image courtesy of Make Workshop)
Two Christmases ago, Santa (aka Mamadukes) brought me a sewing machine. So excited to get it (I had asked for one), I carried all the way back to New York from Florida…then I moved, then I moved again. And then before I knew it, two years had come by and the poor thing hadn’t yet made it out of the box.
Until this weekend! I never learned to sew at my grandmother’s knee or anything like that, and my mom always patched our clothes by hand – so I had never actually used a sewing machine before even though I wanted one. I was terrified of breaking the machine because I didn’t know how to operate it so I signed up for the Intro to Sewing Machine Class at New York’s Make Workshop. There, it was promised I’d learn how to thread the machine and make a basic fabric wallet. I’m happy to report – that is exactly what happened! We learned all that and then some with Make’s co-founder, president (and author) Diana Rupp as our guide!
Another Vegan Delight – Potato and Leek Soup
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This isn't technically my soup. But my version is its fraternal twin.
Well, my month of veganism continues. I won’t lie – this is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done and that includes stand-up comedy. What’s interesting about this challenge is that physically I’m full — it’s the mental cravings that are driving me crazy! But it’s a revelation to see how much I eat because my mind wants to – not my body. And as these are the types of things I wanted to find out from this challenge, I haven’t’ given up, but boy is it hard.
One thing making it slightly easier, though, is to find recipes for things I already enjoy and learn how to make them the vegan way. Take potatoes for example! Normally I enjoy them with a meat, but obviously that’s out of the question. So, I turned to the Internet to find some alternatives and stumbled upon something I used to enjoy regularly but haven’t had in years – potato and leek soup.
After the jump, the very simple, very quick, very tasty recipe.
A Vegan Delight: Chilled Thai Coconut Curry Soup with Corn and Red Pepper
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Vegan and tasty! Two words I wasn't sure went together.
I recently realized a few things about myself.
One, I eat cheese like it’s going out of style. Two, I make myself some type of steak-based dish no less than three times a week. Finally, I don’t think I have ever met an egg I didn’t like. And while those are certainly not bad things, lately I’ve found myself wondering more and more often why I’m down to one pair of pants that fit, one skirt I like and why all my dresses tend to be on the billow-y side. I had to come to a harsh truth – my diet stinks. So I wanted to reboot and start fresh. Starting August 1, I began to forgo meats, cheeses and other animal products that I love. For the next 27 days, I’m a vegan.
Needless to say, the last three days have been difficult at best. But that’s because I didn’t go about it the right way at first. I thought it would be really easy to just eat salads, as well as nut- and bean-based dishes but it’s not. When that didn’t go well, I turned to a neighborhood vegan place but hated what I ordered. (And it wasn’t cheap.) So I took control of the situation a little better.
I borrowed three cookbooks from the library and turned to Google to find recipes based on things I already like. Sure enough, things have turned around. Last night, I made this delicious and 100 percent vegan coconut-milk based soup in about 20 minutes. It’s missing a protein, so I’ll be having fruit or almonds for a snack later, but it’s very tasty and makes a great summer appetizer. Here’s what you’ll need:
Apartment Gardening: We’ve got lift off!
Posted by: | CommentsJust a few days ago, I posted on the first shoots of thyme rising through the dirt of the planter. Well, the sage (all the way on the left) must have been a bit jealous of the attention because not two days later, they broke through with a vengeance and then some! Ladies and gentlemen, we got ourselves a competition.
For those who might be interested in growing herbs at home, here are a few tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way:
Sage and Thyme Shoots
Apartment Gardening: Take Three
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Gardening - take three.
Up until recently, I was doing pretty good with my indoor garden. Then, unfortunately, my primary plant – basil – came down with a mysterious case of “white dots all over it.” I couldn’t find any potential diagnoses on the Internet and afraid to use it in anything, I let it die. But I’ve brought back the entire effort from the dead – pun intended – with a new approach. (FYI, the oregano plant, as you recall from the veggie pizza post, continues to do just fine.)
For the second time around, I picked up a long planter and some potting soil from the local florist. In it, I placed thyme, rosemary, sage and re-potted a new basil plant as well. After a week’s worth of watering, I noticed yesterday that some shoots were starting to form! Very exciting. More on this effort as take three continues. In the meantime, here are some photos!
