apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Our garden is in full swing! We harvested our first eggplant last night and I am making it for dinner tonight, along with some fresh-from-the-garden roma tomatoes. Mm!

I can only think of harvested veggies with envy. This early in the season, I've only got my balcony plated with radishes (doing quite nicely) and cat grass.

Our local vegetable delivery (not quite CSA) from Irv and Shelley's in Chicago did have a bounty this week: ramps, asparagus, spinach, and radishes! The kitchn recipes this week have been put to really good use!

I'm thinking of some Thai red curry to use up those potatoes in my fridge, then I think I'm going to try my hand at fish tacos (SeriousEats recipe).

The real fun starts Tuesday, though, when I get my first CSA box! They're promising us asparagus, so I'm going to try roasting it. Can't wait!

*cleaning out the fridge
*attempting to make something I've dreamt of for years- sopapilla ice cream (honey ice cream, dolce de leche swirl, and sopapilla pieces- whew!)

I'm only doing a very basic garden this year- herbs (cilantro, basil, mint, lavendar, rosemary) and arugula. Veggies will come from the farmers market... Im tired of fighting the squirrels. They win.

I have a question for you all--I bought medium sherry instead of dry by accident. I was planning to make a French Onion Soup tomorrow, but now that I've tasted the sherry--GACK! I think it's too sweet. If I can find dry sherry tomorrow I'll proceed, but before I dump the medium down the drain, any suggestions? Is there anything worthwhile I can do with sweetish sherry? I do enjoy some sweet wines like sauterne, but I'm flummoxed by the sherry. Help?

I planted herbs, shallots, and fennel, and the tomatoes are waiting patiently for the weather to get better before they go outside. That's it this year, though, because I've got my first CSA subscription. Because of the weird weather, it will start a week late.

Oh, and tonight we're having meatloaf cupcakes, green veggies, hand pies, and mint juleps in honor (sort of) of the derby.

I made some butter yesterday! I started out doing it by hand with a whisk, but then wimped out and brought out the hand mixer to finish the job. But very easy! And that first taste, on a slice of homemade bread? Very, very good. :)

So right now I've got about a cup and a half of buttermilk sitting in my fridge just waiting to be used. I'm very tempted to make buttermilk pancakes with them. Or maybe some blueberry muffins. Hmmm...I should go peruse some cookbooks!

How about using the sherry as a poaching liquid for pears? Add some spices if you wish ...

Sherry--even sweet sherry!--pairs fabulously with almost all seafood. Try using it as a base for a sauce or to enhance a seafood-based soup? I'm in culinary school and we just made the most incredible crab-meat soup the other night--it was essentially crab meat, reduced cream, and a good dose of sherry. So fabulous.

Also, I think sherry keeps for a long time, right? So you might as well keep it in the cupboard for while instead of pouring it out. Or pawn it off on a friend?

I live in New Jersey so I'm just now getting into the swing of things with my container garden. I have plenty of outside space to do something bigger but I'm also 7 months pregnant with my second child so container gardening will have to work for this year.

I have a window box with Rosemary, Flat-leaf parlsey, mint, and Thyme.

A basil plant on my windowsill

Two huge galvinized tubs, one with red leaf lettuce the other with two tomato plants, Tomatillos, and Jalapeno peppers.

I'm also very fortunate that my grandparents live near by and my grandfather has a HUGE garden that he's been keeping for over 40 years. Beefsteak tomatoes, assorted greens, bell peppers, yellow, red, & white onions, zuchinni, yellow squash, corn, green beans, black beans, black eye peas, canalope, I'm sure I'm forgetting something but needless to say during the spring and summer months I don't have to purchase any fresh produce other than summer berries.