gardening | an explosion of growth!

I know I already said it, but this humidity is BRUTAL.  Oy vey.  I went for a run today and I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it back home!  Hopefully it rains soon so we can get some relief.

The good thing about all this sunshine is that my garden is EXPLODING.  In the best way possible, of course.  I’ve got to say, it’s a pretty incredible feeling to start something from a tiny little seed, and watch it grow into something huge…and even better, something that you can eat!

My basil plants have a had quite a journey:

…the life of my basil.

To me, the most amazing plant I grew from seed is the garlic.  I saw online that you could grow new garlic from the garlic you buy in the grocery store.  I was skeptical, so I only planted four.  Turns out it is SO easy to grow garlic.  Apparently I’m growing it out of season, which means I will have small bulbs, but I am okay with that.  It’s really amazing how huge the garlic has gotten–I had no idea what a garlic plant even looked like before this.

now THAT is some major growth.

Huge, right?!  I bought my jalepeno plant, so that started off well.  It’s gotten much bigger, and is starting to get flowers–which means peppers will be coming soon, hopefully!  I’m looking forward to making some delicious fresh spicy foods.

My mint is a funny story.  Dan’s stepmom Victoria gave me a small piece of her mint plant last fall.  I put it in the garden, and then never touched it again.  It sat there all winter, uncovered, unprotected, and not cared for at all.  Completely forgotten.  So imagine my surprise when I walked outside in the spring to plan out my garden, only to find tiny mint plants sprouting!  I moved it into a bigger pot, and it is thriving.  So if you’re looking for an easy-to-grow plant, apparently mint is super resilient.

Yes, yes…this will make excellent mojitos.

Rosemary took quite a while to sprout.  So long, that I started a few more plants.  I do love rosemary though, so I’m hoping the growth will take off when I transplant it to a bigger pot outside!  I’m hoping to get that done sometime this week so that it can grow a little faster.

rosemary is pretty cute.

I have plenty of other stuff growing that I didn’t manage to get very good pictures of.  My lavender is slow to grow, just like the rosemary–but I started a few more seedlings of that as well, and I plan on transplanting the existing plants outside this week too.  My chives continue to grow, and grow, and grow…I’ve got to harvest some more and give them away because I’m basically drowning in chives!

One of my celery plants pulled a Jesus-style move–I planted it in the pot.  I waited and waited…and waited.  When nothing sprouted, I dug into the pot and the celery is…gone.  Completely.  Like it was never even there!!  It’s so bizarre.  I keep thinking that maybe some animals managed to eat it…but there was no hole in the surface.  Maybe bugs?  Or maybe it just rotted under the surface?  Who knows. The other plant is sprouting, but seems to be having a lot of trouble.  I think something might be picking at it.  Not sure that it will make it, but I’ll keep hoping!

poor little guy.

The cilantro is growing just fine–but the plants keep getting tangled in one another, so I have to be careful when I’m trying to detangle them.  They do look mighty fine, though!

My tomato plants seem to have grown a foot in the past week.  It’s pretty overwhelming.  I’ve never grown tomatoes before, so I have no idea what to expect…I’m faking it ’til I make it, here.

Dan’s stepmom gave me a few new plants that I’m excited for as well.  One is Lemon Verbena.  I guess you can boil it in water to make tea. It smells FANTASTIC, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

She also gave me some fennel.  I need to repot it ASAP because it is HUGE!  I’m not really sure what I can use fennel for, but I’ll figure something out.  In this picture it’s a bit droopy because it had just been transplanted from her garden into a pot.

Finally, she also gave me some thyme and lemon thyme.  I didn’t snap good pictures of those guys, so I’ll share those later.

It’s so hard to believe that I have THAT many plants growing here at home.  All of them are in containers, and in a tiny little garden at our condo.  One thing I have learned is that when it comes to gardening, you’ve just got to give it a shot.  I think a lot of people, especially apartment owners, are nervous about the idea of growing herbs and veggies at home.  Based on the research I’ve done online, many plants actually thrive in containers.  And from my experience, you can get some pretty good stuff without having to do much maintenance.  Even if it’s just herbs, it is such a great feeling to raise something from seed to harvest.  I’d encourage anyone to give it a shot–there are many resilient plants out there that will forgive you when you mess up.  I have found it’s a fun, worthwhile endeavor to grow some of your own food.  I can’t wait to have a house someday so that I can have a legitimate garden!  In the meantime, I’ll continue to experiment and learn a whole lot along the way.

recipe | sausage, kale, and lentil soup

It has been atrociously humid this past week.  To the point where my hair has gone into what I affectionately call “cave girl mode.”  So it might seem weird that the other night I was in the mood for soup when it was so hot out.  I remember hearing a story on NPR about how people that live in India, eat really hot, spicy food when it gets very hot outside.  Apparently it actually helps to cool you down?  Who knows.  I haven’t looked up the science behind the whole idea, but a bowl of hot, mildly spicy soup certainly did me well the other night.

I have always wanted to try making my own soup, so I figured I’d give it a shot.  I was inspired by this post on Well Done Blair.  She takes fantastic photographs, and has some great recipes and general food advice.  She gave some great advice on what is needed for basic kinds of soups and stews.

I adore the sausage soup served at both Bertucci’s and the Olive Garden, so I decided to attempt a variation on their soup, and I have to say–I am not braggart, by my goodness…it was DELICIOUS!  I decided to use sausage, kale, and lentils as well because, well…those are my three of my favorite foods!  I was very pleasantly surprised with the results.

Ingredients:

4 carrots, chopped

4 celery, chopped

1 tsp thyme

2 yellow onions, chopped

olive oil

2 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 cup white wine

6-8 cups chicken stock

3 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/2-1 tbsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

kale (1 bunch)

salt & pepper (to taste)

4 red potatoes (chopped)

1 to 1-1/2 lbs sausage (out of casing)

1/2 lb lentils

1 can cannelini beans

parmesean cheese (optional)

cilantro, chopped (optional)

 

Chop up everything in advance (which is the best cooking tip probably of all time–a lesson often learned the hard way).  Side note: I ADORE my Rachel Ray knife.  I don’t use it too often to keep it in good shape, but when I do I practically give it a hug every time.  I’m not the biggest Rachel Ray fan, but her knives?  Those are a-okay with me.

 

I kept the celery tops, as suggested in the post I linked to above.  They added a nice little flavor, plus it saved me from wasting food.

I love how pretty freshly chopped veggies look!

 

Chopped up potatoes & kale…yum!  I like to keep the skin on my potatoes.

kale…so healthy…so delicious.

 

Cover the bottom of the pot with a thin layer of olive oil.  Heat up the oil on the medium setting.  Add in the onions and thyme.  Cook until the onions are translucent…I LOVE the smell of this.

this smells like heaven to me!

Add in the garlic.  Cook for about 30 seconds, then add in the carrots and celery.  Add in 1/2 tsp of ground ginger.  Cook for 8-10 minutes.

Next, add in the sausage (out of its casing).  Break up the sausages with a wooden spoon until all of the meat is browned.  Add in 1/2 tbsp of cayenne, 1 tbsp paprika, 1 tbsp garlic powder, and salt & pepper.

Pour in 1/2 cup of white wine, and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Alcohol helps to bring out more flavor in dishes, so I figured that by adding in the spices early and simmering everything in just wine, it would bring out more intense flavors.  I think it succeeded!

Add in all the chicken stock, as well as the rest of the spices (2 tbsp paprika, 1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper, salt & pepper).  You can adjust the spices as you like–this came out with just enough kick, but if you want more or less, simply adjust the amount of cayenne accordingly.

Add in the lentils and bring everything to a boil.  Once it’s boiling, add in the potatoes.  Let it boil for about 5 more minutes, then add in the kale and beans.  Cover the pot and turn down the heat to low.  Let the soup simmer until the potatoes are done (probably 10-15 minutes).

I added a little bit of chopped cilantro and grated parmesan cheese on top of my serving–this is totally optional.  It’s not the most photogenic dish I’ve ever made, but it sure is tasty.

Not the prettiest soup ever, but super delicious.

And that’s it!  If you chop up everything ahead of time, this recipe is really easy to make.  Soups are really fun because there are so many variations you can create.  Have fun and experiment!

photography | flowers of old wethersfield

I absolutely adore where I live: Wethersfield, Connecticut.  I moved around a lot when I was a child, so I never really felt attached to many particular places in the world.  In fact, my family moved to a new home about once every 3 years, until my sophomore year of high school.  We stayed in that house up in Georgetown, Massachusetts for about 6 years, and I adored that place.  It was a small town, with lots of beautiful tress, and the beach was a mere 15 minutes away.  Words can’t really capture it.  I’m still a bit of a nomad–in 4 years, I have lived in 3 different towns in Connecticut!

I don’t think I have ever loved a place as much as I loved my home in Massachusetts, but Wethersfield is sure giving Georgetown a run for its money.  Particularly Old Wethersfield.  It is such a beautiful, simple litte area of town.  Part of a historic preservation project, it is preserved as a beautiful snapshot of small town life.  From the antique stores, to the Main Street Creamery, to Comstock, Ferre, & Co., it is filled with little gems that remind you of a simpler time.  The little girl inside me dreams of getting married at the Webb Barn.  I often walk from my condo, past the duck pond, by the Wethersfield green, down Main Street, and end up at Wethersfield Cove.  That small little body of water always manages to put me at peace.  It’s a wonderful place to just sit and think…or take the cat for a walk if you are a weirdo like me…! I even got to take my kayak in it last summer–and I’m hoping to put plenty of time in this summer, too!

I thought I’d share a few photos I took of the smaller, often unnoticed pieces of Old Wethersfield–the tiny, beautiful flowers that line my walks from home to the Cove, and back.  I hope you all enjoy!  PS: click on the collages to view them in full size.

catching up | graduation + Indian pizza

It’s been a while–same old story of finals and papers, except this time, there’s a different ending:  I. AM. DONE!!!

I graduated yesterday with my Masters in Music Education Research.  Grad school was like a whirlwind–I did classes both during the year and in the summers, so it has been an incredibly hectic past two years between school and work (which keeps me busy enough as it is!).  I couldn’t be more excited to get to relax and enjoy the summer and all the free time I now have!

Dan & I <3

I am looking forward to getting to spend a lot more time blogging.  I have so much to share–sewing alterations to a couple of goodwill finds, some great photographs I snagged of the beautiful flowers in Old Wethersfield, and of course, an update on my garden (which is exploding with growth–in a good way!).

For now, I figured I’d keep it simple and share one of my very favorite recipes: Indian pizza.

I absolutely adore Indian food.  It amazes me how they manage to pack so much flavor into their dishes, and the wide variety with which they can prepare simple things like rice and veggies.  So when Food Network selected Aarti Sequeira as their Next Food Network Star in 2010, I was super excited to get more exposure to Indian cooking.  I also adore her as a person–she may be shy and sometimes has shaky confidence, but that makes her human and approachable.

The first recipe of hers that I ever tried was her Mango Chutney, Prosciutto and Paneer “Pizza.”  It was a big hit with Dan and I.  We made some modifications to it because we couldn’t find all the ingredients.  Over time, we have adapted that recipe and made into our own version, which will simply call, “Indian Pizza.”  Ours has much more kick, and ingredients that are a bit easier to find(and cheaper for those who are strapped for cash).

Indian Pizza (serves 4…depending on how much you eat!)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons hot mango chutney (recommended: Patak’s Hot Mango Chutney)
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (or desired amount, to taste)
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/2 cup water
• Salt & pepper (to taste)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 2 green onions (scallions), chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garam masala (if you have it–if not, simply omit)
• A glug extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 pieces of naan bread
• meat of your choice (original calls for prosciutto, I use chopped grilled chicken, which you can find pre-cooked by Perdue if you are crunched for time)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.  In a saucepan, combine the tomato paste, water, garlic, mango chutney, cayenne pepper, paprika, and salt & pepper (to taste).  Cook on medium heat until ingredients are blended and warm.  Set aside(note: if you have extra sauce left over, you can always jar it and use it for something else–it gives a nice twist to traditional pasta dishes!).

A note about the chutney–you can find it in your grocery store’s “ethinc foods” aisle.  Often it is by the asian foods.  We use the recommended brand, Patak’s Hot Mango Chutney.  It looks like this (hard to miss the purple lid):

To prepare the cheese, combine the mozzarella, oregano, red pepper flakes, cumin, garam masala, green onion, cilantro, and olive oil.  Mix it up!

mmm mmm. love those greens!

cheese, pre-deliciousifying

…and made into a delicious combo of flavor!

Finally, get your naan on a pan.  I use Stonefire naan because, quite honestly, it is the only brand I can find.  Granted, I shop at Stop & Shop so I’m sure there are other varieties out there, but I’m a sucker for convenience.  Also, I haven’t found a good naan recipe to make some at home, so untill then…it’s Stonefire.  It’s pretty good, but no comparison to REAL, fresh-baked naan…excuse me while I go drool at the thought.

Prepare it in traditional pizza fashion!  Put whatever amount of sauce & cheese you like, and toss on your meats.  It is FANTASTIC with prosciutto, but if you are trying to save money chicken is much cheaper, and still delicious.  Put it in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.  Let it cool a bit and voila!  You have delicious, spicy, hearty Indian pizza.

I’m hungry just looking at this!

This is such an easy, delicious dinner to make.  I think the best part is that you can easily prepare the sauce and cheese ahead of time, and then just throw it all together in minutes.  Perfect for a weeknight meal!  One of these babies fills me up plenty, but for Dan it’s usually one and a half or two.

Blogger note: I just learned about the “white balance” feature on my camera, so those last few photos are…blegh!  But one thing I love about blogging is it increases my motivation to learn more about how to use my camera well!

I hope everyone has had a great weekend and got to enjoy this GORGEOUS weather we’re having…because I hear it’s back to rain all of this week.

nature magic | garden & rainbows!

I don’t have too much to share, but I’m excited about my garden’s progress and a giant, full double rainbow that I saw this afternoon!

the second rainbow isn't as bold, but still--pretty neat.

the whole thing! by the time I took this, the second rainbow faded away.

As for the garden…my basil is continuing to grow like a boss.  Cilantro has not only joined the party, but he basically kicked in the door when he arrived.  I swear it sprouted an inch overnight.  Lavender is coming in slow & steady.  Rosemary is being a bit of a prude and refuses to show her face, but once she sees everyone else’s facebook status updates about what a good time everyone is having, she’ll get dressed, throw some makeup on, and then come on out to be part of the action.  I just know it.

not a great picture, but I had my 50mm lens on and was too lazy to change it.

As for the outdoors, my tomato plants got their first flowers.

tomatoes!

the first flower!

The celery has yet to do anything…but the garlic plants finally sprouted!

look at that sprout! it's small, but it hold a whole lot of my hope inside of it.

Jalepeno is growing slowly, but the mint is on FIRE.  I’m amazed at how fast new sprigs pop up!

go mint, go!

And…two random flowers from a plant in my garden that I have not identified.

Yay for nature!

weekend | vacation comes to an end.

Alas, as they say…all good things must come to an end.  Back to work tomorrow.  The next few weeks are going to be very hectic–I have my thesis defense, two final papers to write, a final to take, and then I have to get the final version of my thesis done, get it professionally bound, and submit copies to the university library.

Luckily, this weekend was really nice.  On Friday Dan & I spent some time at Mohegan with friends, which is always a good time, especially when balloon hats are involved.  Not to mention I left with more money in my pockets….a whole $6.80!  Better than nothing!  Gambling a little is fun, but a wise man named Kenny Rogers once told me, “you gotta know when to fold ‘em.”  Preach it, brother.

Saturday was a great day on three counts:

1: My basil is sprouting!  After only 3 days!  Which is exciting.  I’ve grown basil before so I know it’s usually pretty excited to grow and be eaten by me.  I also found one tiny lavender sprout this morning…now I’m waiting for cilantro & rosemary to hop on board and soon they’ll be planted outside.

hi there, basil! you're gonna be delicious when you grow up!

2: My cat is a cutie and posed for these pictures.  Usually he’s crafty and either runs away or makes weird faces, but I managed to snap a few cute ones Saturday morning.  His eyes are usually a really bright blue (he’s a cream point siamese), but when it’s dark out he gets what I fondly refer to as his “cocaine eyes.”  I’ve never seen anyone on cocaine (nor to I desire to), but I image this is what it looks like.

cocaine eye cat!

…at least this one captured his nice eyes.

awww. and yes, those are my bright teal fuzzy pajama pants.

3: I went thrift store shopping!  I only do this once in a great while because otherwise, I’d go broke.  Yes, go broke in a thrift store.  That is how much I love it.  I found a cute striped cardigan, 3 great pairs of shorts, a headscarf, and 3 dresses.  When I saw two of the dresses, I head my mother’s voice in my head saying, “These are great for teaching!” Haha.  I wasn’t sure about the third dress, because someone ripped the lining out–but I can wear a slip underneath and it should work.  Plus, it’s pretty cute!

head scarf!

I also found some other random fun stuff, like a cute small hand painted vase and an old bottle with a neat label!  I promise I’m not a hoarder, but I couldn’t resist these two.

It's hard to see in this picture, but it's a nice deep green color.

I’m probably the most excited about some of the fabrics I found.  I love looking in the “linens” section to see if there is anything I can use for a new sewing project.

The blue one was a shower curtain, and the floral pattern ones were short curtains.  I plan on using both to make purses since they are very sturdy fabric and are already lined.

I love this bold pattern.

pretty floral pattern!

I’m really psyched about this last fabric–first, it is mustard yellow. Yay!  I’m pretty sure I want to make it into a skirt.  I think it’d be cute, plus I love that color as a skirt.  It’s a lot of fabric, so if I have leftovers, I may try to make a cardigan or something.

mmm...mustardy.

And finally, I found this skirt.  It fits perfectly, but it goes down to my ankles…and I’m way too short to pull of the long skirt look…or maxi dresses.  Which makes me sad, but, y’know.  You do the best with what you have, and my 5 feet and 6 inches works for me most of the time!  SO, I am going to hem this skirt to update it.  I’ll be sure to post pictures of the before and after once I get around to it.

...to be continued, skirt!

So that was basically my weekend!  Last night we made some delicious lentil soup and salmon–brought to us by the queen of cooking, Ina Garten.  Tonight we’re trying a spicy pulled chicken in the crockpot…which reminds me that I’d better get to the grocery store if we want to eat this tonight!  I’ll leave y’all with a picture of a pretty house & pretty trees we saw on our afternoon walk yesterday.  We are lucky to live in such a pretty area!

baking | bread with roasted garlic & chives.

In a really great relationship, there is always a moment when your significant other says something that makes you go, “Ahh, yes. This person is home.”  After that, you can put your feet up on the couch and stop wearing makeup all the time.  For me and my boyfriend Dan, that moment took place one of our first times cooking a meal together.  We’ve always loved to cook together.  It’s a fun way to spend time with each other, and the payoff is an excellent meal!  Anyway…I forget what we were making, but the recipe called for minced garlic.  Our conversation went something like this…

Me: Okay, next is 1 clove of garlic.

Dan: How much is a clove?

Me:  Well, the label on the jar says one teaspoon equals one clove…but that seems small.  Would you be okay making it a tablespoon instead?

Dan: How about two?

Me: …yeah!  Sure.  I love garlic!

Dan: Really? Me too…I really really love garlic.  Let’s make it three tablespoons.

And a romance was born.  When we went through our first jar of minced garlic together, it was a real milestone in our relationship.  For a while we measured the progress of our relationship through jars of minced garlic.  At this point we’ve stopped counting, but our love for garlic continues to be a strong bond between us.

garlic lovin' fiends...and yes that is beer pong in the background. classy.

Enough with the romance, though–let’s get down to business!  The other day I had a hankering for homemade bread.  Being on vacation, I actually had time to make it.  But I started thinking about the really great bread we get sometimes from the grocery store–the kind that has pieces of roasted garlic stuck right into it.  Growing up, my mom’s boyfriend Tom always bought that bread, and we’d use it for toast and it. was. DIVINE!  So I got out my standard bread recipe and googled “how to roast garlic,” and I was off.

But wait! I had all these chives sitting around that I had harvested from the garden…so I decided to toss those in as well!

...that's a lot o' chives.

Roasting garlic is way easier than I thought it would be.  I used three small heads for the bread.  First, you peel off just enough of the outside layers so that you can see the individual cloves.

...like so. and yes, i need to redo my nails.

Then you chop off enough of the top so that you can see into each (or most) of the cloves.  I used a muffin pan, and lined three of the cups with aluminum foil.  Then you just rub some olive oil over each head of garlic, close up the foil, and put it in the oven!  I did 35 minutes at 350 degrees, but I found varying directions on the internet.

mmm...smothered in olive oil...

all wrapped up & ready to roast!

When time is up, you can either use a fork or your hands to push out the cloves from the head–they come out really easily!  I found using my hands easier…but of course then you have to let it cool a bit.  Then you just mash it up with a fork a bit.  You can certainly leave them intact, but for the sake of my bread I mashed up nice n’ good.

mashed up garlic!

SO!  Moving on to the bread.  I use this recipe I found from this lovely little blog on wordpress.  She posts some great stuff.  I searched for a long time for a good bread recipe that didn’t need to sit overnight, and luckily I found this gem!  It’s a great recipe–always comes out good, and it doesn’t take as much time as most other bread recipes.  I have trouble shaping it round without it flattening out a bit…I should probably invest in a better pan for that.

Here’s the list of what you need:

• 5-6 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar (I used an extra teaspoon in the yeast)
• 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Roasted garlic (I used three small heads of garlic)
• A handful of chopped chives

First, I got my yeast going.  Yeast weirds me out.  It feels weird.  Looks weird.  Smells funny, too.  But without it, you have no bread!  So follow package instructions and add in warm water and sugar to activate the yeast.

hi there yeast! you're weird but I need you.

activated yeast...weird.

Then you mix that baby in with 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 2 cups of warm water.  Let it sit for an hour so it can rise.

Next, you add the oil and salt, then add in more flour…about a 1/2 cup at a time.  The overall recipe calls for 5 cups but I am pretty sure I use more than that.  After adding in a cup or so, I tossed in the roasted garlic and a big handful of chopped chives.  Then you knead, knead, knead!  For about 10ish minutes.

kneaded bread! look at them chives!

Then you let it sit for another hour so that it can rise.  And then it looks like this:

IT HAS RISEN.

Next, line a pan with parchment paper (or spray it with vegetable oil).  Then shape your dough into a round(ish) form and let it sit for another hour.  I’d like to invest in a good-sized round pan so that mine looks a little less…flat. Haha.

so round. so garlicky.

Then you bake it in the oven at 35 minutes at 425 degrees…and voila! You have garlicy, chivey, bready deliciousness!

dee-licious!

This stuff is wonderful on it’s own, but it makes GREAT toast.  So to those who love garlic the way that I do, I raise a piece of this divine bread and toast to you and our collective stinky breath! <3

vacation | new projects.

One of the advantages to being a teacher? Vacation time.  It bothers me when people assume teachers have it easy, but I can only agree when people say that vacations are the best part of being a teacher.  In my mind, it makes up for the countless afternoons and evenings I spend at the high school for extra rehearsals, parent nights, performances, and on and on.  That said, most vacations I’m either traveling to go visit family, or taking the high school kids on a trip.  But this vacation?  This sweet, lovely, warm, sunny April vacation?  I’m staying home…and it. is. DIVINE.

I started up the garden yesterday and today.  Last year, I tried growing things on my own for the first time.  Just herbs, but it was fun!  This year, I’m trying some different stuff, and I’m excited.  I was going to try to put some stuff in the ground instead of just using containers this year, but the only area where there is room to put stuff in the ground gets no direct sunlight…so containers it is!

Here’s the list:

• Tomatoes (Better Boy variety)
• Garlic (…out of season, which will mean small bulbs but that’s okay with me!)
• Celery (got the idea from this pinterest link!)
• Chives (which returned from last year)
• Basil
• Rosemary
• Cilantro
• Lavender

I think I’m most excited for the lavender.  I love the smell, and I’d also like to try doing some baking with it.  I’ve found some neat recipes online.  Here’s a picture of my container garden…

Obviously, lots more growth to come.  My herbs are sprouting as we speak (er…as I type?), so those will go into pots in the next week or two.

I’ve also been enjoying having the time to tackle a few cooking endeavors…which I’ll post about later.  In the meantime, I have a homemade loaf of bread with roasted garlic and chives (from the garden!) waiting for me in the kitchen.