Indoor Gardening

This year I would like to start my own indoor garden. And maybe do a little outdoor gardening as well. This freezing cold weather has me hopeful that I can start some indoor plants and see a little greenery. My apartment is always really warm.

Does anyone have recommendations for seeds? Someone recommended Gurney’s to me, but they are online. Are there any local places that are better?

I’m looking for plants that are hard to kill/easy to grow. I’ve got a bit of a black thumb. I’d also really prefer organic seeds.

For the outdoor garden, the space is pretty shady. I plan on building a box planter if I go this route. Any shady plant easy-keeper recs from my gardening peeps?

Caesar Salad

Albany John is a member of the Troy PhotoCenter. It’s a pretty neat photography center in Troy, located on River Street right across from Jose Malone’s & Ryan’s Wake.

Last night they had an informal snacky gathering for members (and they could bring a guest) for their 3 year anniversary. The mister & I went over and photographer Dan McCormack talked about pinhole cameras and his work currently on display. On the whole it was both educational and fun (I know, it sounds totally impossible).

Albany John thinks that the artists involved at the Troy PhotoCenter are a little more down to earth than in Albany. I’m inclined to agree with him – the artists I’ve gotten to meet there don’t really have any egos or pretenses. They generally act really lucky to have become moderately successful at what they do; even if they’re wildly successful.

If you get to meet Lady Ostapeck, she's totally awesome. She was also there last night and she’s just wonderful. She’s so bubbly and blunt. She’s turning 93 later this month. Her hearing isn’t great, and she’s not shy about saying “Honey, I’m near DEAF. You GOTTA speak up! I didn’t hear a word you said!” She came up to me last night jokingly calling me a gypsy, but said I needed big hoop earrings, or I wasn't really a gypsy.



After eating my weight's worth in pita chips and enjoying the evening, I came home hell bent on making a Caesar salad. As a treat last week Albany really went crazy at the Veggie Mobile and got a head of romaine lettuce.

I found this recipe for Caesar salad dressing that sounded anchovy-tastic. I love the rich fishy taste of anchovies. And I've never made Caesar salad dressing from scratch.

The dressing was really easy to whip together too! Unfortch, I was out of worcestershire sauce, and I can really see how that would bump this dressing into amazing territory. Other than my own lack of available ingredients, I can't wait to make this again. The coddled egg also really makes emulsifying a snap. No broken emulsifications!

The flavor overall was much deeper than bottled dressings – it tasted rich and full. But unlike gloppy, viscous bottled dressings, this also had a light mouthfeel.

It still took me over an hour to make the salad, because I made the croutons from scratch, and they took about 45 minutes to bake (I upped the temp later on, don't worry).

Enchiladas

I’ve got a soft spot for enchiladas. I really flip for the flour tortilla tex-mex enchiladas that are slathered in cheese and some kind of weakly flavored watery tomato sauce.

When I saw some enchilada sauce cans at Big Lots for $0.50 a can, I snapped up a couple. They usually retail around $0.79 at their cheapest. Being a cheapskate food hoarder, how could I resist?

I couldn't justify buying flour tortillas when I had tons of masa harina at home, so I made a bunch of corn tortillas, let them soften up, and made a filling.

Refried beans. They might look like some kind of alien goop here. Albany John made some kidney beans (from dried beans) a few days ago, and they were just sitting in our fridge. Hello, refried beans. I cooked them up with 3 chopped onions, a few minced cloves of garlic, some epazote, oregano, a can of turkey broth, and the last speck of powdered cumin in the pantry. I let that simmer for about half an hour or so.

Once the beans were really tender, I mashed them up. I added just a tiny splash of half-and-half, which added a pretty strong creamy flavor. It was okay, but a little more dairy-rich than I’d have liked. But since these were going to get dominated by enchilada sauce in a can, the subtleties didn’t really matter.

I dropped in a can of enchilada sauce, got my hands nice and messy while filling the tacos with refried beans and folding them, and soon discovered - wow, this enchilada sauce had some kick.

Actually, the random little cuts on my hands found that one out, thankyouverymuch.

I poured another can over the top, then covered the pan with tin foil and popped it in the oven for 20 mintutes.

Foil came off the last 10 minutes and I sprinkled with some feta. It was the only cheese in my fridge, but I think it works with Mexican food.

Overall, it was alright, but nothing I'm jonesing to make again. It was a little something different using the stuff in our pantry. Some meat filling would have made these way better.

Overall, I'd say this entire pan cost about $3.50 to make. It'll last the two of us at least 2 meals.

Known Costs: turkey broth ($0.59), enchilada sauce (2 @ $0.50 ea), feta ($0.40)
Unknown Costs: Beans, onions, garlic, masa harina. Est $1.50 total

Boneless Rib Roast

My Mom invited me over for dinner. She’d bought a boneless rib roast at BJ’s, but her boarders are Chickentarians. I’ve been a little busy at nights this week, but I asked her if she wouldn’t mind eating later at night. She said yes, so I went over for dinner last night.

I think she must miss Bro and Margarita now that they have moved to MS. He’d go over to her place a lot more often, and normally I’d have expected her to say not to come over so late.

It was really delicious. She cooked it perfectly. A lot of the time she gets distracted or something and the roasts get overcooked to medium or medium-well.

I really appreciated it. It was nice just to spend an evening with her just watching some TV and enjoying some food, no cocktails necessary.

I appreciated her letting me come over late at night. I also got a surprise present from Hello Kitty Sis in Tampa. I can’t wait to show you guys what she sent me. It was so sweet and unexpected I almost got all emo and squirted a tear out.

Fenugreek Sprouts

Sprouted fenugreek seeds. Albany John sprouted whole fenugreek seeds and cooked them up. They tasted like zesty [mung] bean sprouts. I would like to eat them again.

Don't forget that tonight is Cooking The Tree of Life @ The NYS Museum.

Free Burrito @ Chipotle = yum

Last night Albany John and I went out in the freezing cold to wait for some free Chipotle burritos in Clifton Park, NY.

I was hoping the bitter cold would deter people from lining up, but wow! If this was how many people willing to brave the cold, imagine what it would have been like in nicer weather? This was when we got kind of close to the front. The outside wait was only 15-20 minutes though. Not too bad. Chipotle does crowd control very well.

Since I'm a creature of habit, I got another CHICKEN BURRITO. They are so freaking awesome. I'm normally not a chicken person, but the chicken they've got at Chipotle is delicious. Dark meat with a little bit of char to the outside. So flavorful and moist!

And guess what? They did give me two salsas! I got mild and red-hot! Soooo good! I also got guac, pinto beans, and sour cream. Yum, yum, yum.

Albany John got a steak burrito. So good! I think I want a steak burrito next time I go. Or maybe chicken AND steak. I bet that would be really good.

The only thing about Chipotle that isn't super-awesome is that they don't have any extra veggies (well, lettuce) to put in their food. I am an onion fiend, so I diced up half an onion and ate it along with my burrito.

They've also got this mild jalapeno Tabasco sauce that BLEW MY FREAKING MIND. Oh, 'Potle. I love you.