Friday, August 13, 2010
Growing Update
Garden porn, anyone?
This is just a small sampling of the bounty from my garden....
FROM TODAY
To start with, that's a gallon bag of green beans. I thought they were done for the season and the next minute I look and see they are busting out everywhere. Again.
And six big cukes to go with the dozen that are already waiting for some attention in my fridge. Cucumbers. Look away from them for .05 second and there are ten more huge new ones that just grew.
The tomatoes are a mix of San Marzano, Amish Paste and Italian Heirloom, all intended for "putting up".
I'll tell you all about that adventure later.
The big yellow-ish ones are an eating tomato called Hillbilly Potato Leaf, and they are a beautiful and delicious work of art. Remember that bread from the WFO I showed you a few weeks ago? With some mayo and salt and pepper, those suckers make the best and most gorgeous lunch you will ever eat.
The putting up tomatoes, post the tomato carnage that is peeling and seeding, made for fourteen pounds of tomatoes to hit the freezer.
JUST FROM TODAY.
Tomorrow is just a day away.
Welcome to my life. Processing tomatoes. It's what I do.
And cucumbers.
Anyone need any pickles?
I might be 1/3 of the way through the crop.
So far, the goal I set for this season's gardening adventure, that of being able to put up enough of this stuff to last us through until next summer...not looking like a problem. In fact, if you don't hear from me about gardening, say, anytime in the next five years, you'll know our stash has held out.
Now if you'll pardon me, I have to get back to my food sealer.
This is just a small sampling of the bounty from my garden....
FROM TODAY
To start with, that's a gallon bag of green beans. I thought they were done for the season and the next minute I look and see they are busting out everywhere. Again.
And six big cukes to go with the dozen that are already waiting for some attention in my fridge. Cucumbers. Look away from them for .05 second and there are ten more huge new ones that just grew.
The tomatoes are a mix of San Marzano, Amish Paste and Italian Heirloom, all intended for "putting up".
I'll tell you all about that adventure later.
The big yellow-ish ones are an eating tomato called Hillbilly Potato Leaf, and they are a beautiful and delicious work of art. Remember that bread from the WFO I showed you a few weeks ago? With some mayo and salt and pepper, those suckers make the best and most gorgeous lunch you will ever eat.
The putting up tomatoes, post the tomato carnage that is peeling and seeding, made for fourteen pounds of tomatoes to hit the freezer.
JUST FROM TODAY.
Tomorrow is just a day away.
Welcome to my life. Processing tomatoes. It's what I do.
And cucumbers.
Anyone need any pickles?
I might be 1/3 of the way through the crop.
So far, the goal I set for this season's gardening adventure, that of being able to put up enough of this stuff to last us through until next summer...not looking like a problem. In fact, if you don't hear from me about gardening, say, anytime in the next five years, you'll know our stash has held out.
Now if you'll pardon me, I have to get back to my food sealer.
Monday, August 09, 2010
Street Food Friday
So, at long last, the Twin Cities finally get street food! Recently legalized and suddenly a big, awesome thing, justlikethat.
Boy and I took a quick little field trip downtown to check out a couple of the offerings. First, it was Chef Shack. I missed getting my hands on the last of what looked like delicious tamales by half a minute, but we did partake of some pretty awesome grass-fed braised beef tacos, a dose of the much-anticipated Indian spiced mini donuts, and a couple of Arne Palmers:
Everything was delicious, and we had a great time hanging out on the corner and people watching.
It took him quite a while to decipher the menu, but PupCake insisted we chase the tacos and mini donuts with a lobster roll from the guys at Smack Shack who were parked at what they told me is their permanent location on 1st. Av. N by the Fine Line.
It was pretty good and I'd never complain about a whole bunch of lobstah on buttery, toasted bread on a gorgeous Friday afternoon in Minneapolis, but the shrimp po'boy the person in front of us in line ordered looked better...amazing actually. That is going on my must-try list for next time.
I'm looking forward to seeing where the food truck movement takes us! If you want a quick, fool-proof way to find yourself a food truck lunch any day of the week in either downtown, checkout the tcstreetfood feed over on Twitter, or the website a fellow street-food enthusiast has been so kind to have started.
Boy and I took a quick little field trip downtown to check out a couple of the offerings. First, it was Chef Shack. I missed getting my hands on the last of what looked like delicious tamales by half a minute, but we did partake of some pretty awesome grass-fed braised beef tacos, a dose of the much-anticipated Indian spiced mini donuts, and a couple of Arne Palmers:
Everything was delicious, and we had a great time hanging out on the corner and people watching.
It took him quite a while to decipher the menu, but PupCake insisted we chase the tacos and mini donuts with a lobster roll from the guys at Smack Shack who were parked at what they told me is their permanent location on 1st. Av. N by the Fine Line.
It was pretty good and I'd never complain about a whole bunch of lobstah on buttery, toasted bread on a gorgeous Friday afternoon in Minneapolis, but the shrimp po'boy the person in front of us in line ordered looked better...amazing actually. That is going on my must-try list for next time.
I'm looking forward to seeing where the food truck movement takes us! If you want a quick, fool-proof way to find yourself a food truck lunch any day of the week in either downtown, checkout the tcstreetfood feed over on Twitter, or the website a fellow street-food enthusiast has been so kind to have started.
