Pickled Onions

Hi everyone!

It is time for another recipe post! Yesssss, so excited!

Today, I have a really quick and easy recipe for pickled onions and jalapenos. It takes 10 minutes to make and you'll have enough left over for days. I love to eat these pickled onions with fish or chicken tacos. They are delicious and not too spicy. Sometimes you'll get a little kick from the jalapeno but for the most part it is mild, it really depends on your jalapenos. If you are not a fan of pickles, don't worry, these do not taste anything like pickles. I really don't like pickles and I was pleasantly surprised when I tried these pickled onions.

Ingredients
1 red onion, sliced
4 jalapenos, sliced and seeded
1 bottle of rice vinegar
1tbsp of kosher salt.


Directions
Slice the onion and jalapenos and place them in a pot. Pour the rice vinegar and kosher salt in the same pot, bring over to stove and place over medium heat until it boils. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cover for 1 minute. Remove from stove and allow to cool. Carefully pour everything in the pot into a container that can be closed airtight like a tupperware or a jar. I used a jar from TJ Maxx. Store in your fridge.

These store well in the fridge for over a week. They are delicious with tacos, BBQ sandwiches, sloppy joes, turkey sandwiches and burgers. They are also a great gift to bring to a pot luck or porch party this summer or even for a Memorial Day BBQ this weekend.  

I am planning on eating tons of these pickled onions with some homemade iced tea and grilled fish tacos this weekend. There are many things going on here in DC for Memorial Day, here are a few things you can enjoy if you live in the area or don't want to travel far!

• Colonial Williamsburg is offering free admission this weekend to military members and their families. If you've never been, this is a great opportunity to check it out. Tickets are available at the colonial Williamsburg regional visitor center. 
• Friday May 24, catch a free concert by the U.S. Air Force Band Chamber Players at The Lyceum in Alexandria, VA. 
• Friday May 24 catch a showing of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" at the Rosslyn Film Festival.

• Saturday May 25 Arlington History Walking Tour option of one to 12 miles, visit Colonial and post-Revolutionary War sites, cemeteries, a Civil War outpost, log cabins, Washington & Old Dominion Railroad, historic springs and more. Sponsored by Center Hiking Society. Bring lunch and water. 9 a.m., Clarendon Metro station, 3100 Wilson Blvd. Arlington. $2. 703-243-0179.

• Memorial Day, the U.S. Air Force Concert Band. 11 a.m., Arlington National Cemetery, Memorial Bridge and Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington. Free. 202-767-5658 or www.usafband.af.mil

• Memorial Day, Arlington Bell Ringing celebrate Memorial Day by ringing a vintage Pennsylvania church bell, sponsored by the Bluemont Civic Association. Noon, Constitution Bicentennial Gardens, North George Mason Drive and Wilson Boulevard, Arlington. Free. 703-525-3786.

Tomato, Tomato

Hi Everyone!

This past month I've been blogging about my container garden and I thought I continue the trend with a post about my tomato plants and how i've been growing them in a container.

Two years ago I attempted to grow beefsteak and cherry tomatoes on my balcony. I was not prepared for how big the plants would get, taking over half my balcony. I also had no idea what it would take to grow tomatoes. While the cherry tomatoes were semi-productive the beefsteak only produced 1 tomato all season. Talk about frustrating! I had these giant tomato plants taking over my balcony and only a handful of tomatoes to show for it. Needless to say, last year tomatoes were not invited back to grow on my sunny balcony.

This year, I changed my mind. In part because my boyfriend really wants some homegrown tomatoes and let's be honest, I'm trying to permanently take him off the market, maybe if I give him a bagful of homegrown tomatoes he will get me that watermelon ring pop i've been dreaming about.

I guess I could settle for cherry.

Seriously though, this year i decided to give tomatoes one more try and i did a little reading about how to grow them in a container. So when i headed to Home Depot a month ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they sell a variety of tomato called "patio tomato". Tomato lovers, don't hate! I have read mixed reviews about this variety, "they're not flavorful" "they are too small", but I live on a small balcony, I can't have giant tomato plants everywhere or else I wouldn't be able to grow anything else.

So patio tomatoes it is! I bought one plant and used an old container with draining holes as its new home. I also used the organic potting mix soil and Miracle Gro plant food (I made sure to buy one that was good for flowers and vegetables including tomatoes). I put about 1/2 the soil in the pot and sprinkled some Miracle Gro. I then put some more soil, placed the tomato plant and added more soil to top it off. At the top I sprinkled a little more Miracle Gro (follow the instructions on the back of the Miracle Gro for feeding amounts). I like to split the total amount of food I give the plant into sections in their containers. I have found that this method ensures that the plant gets enough nutrients throughout the growing season and that the nutrients are evenly spread throughout the soil. My plants have also performed better when using this method. Next, place the plant in a sunny spot and water. I water my tomato plants every 2 days, depending on how hot it is. During the summer months when it can get to 100+ degrees, I water them every day or every other day, depending on how the soil feels. I like to dig a little hole in the soil during really hot days to see how moist the soil is underneath the surface, that way I can gage how frequently I need to water my plant. Just make sure that your pot has good drainage! Some people like to place gravel at the bottom of the containers before adding the soil to assist with the drainage and keep the roots from rotting. I didn't do this because I didn't have a problem with overwatering last time I grew tomatoes, I had a problem with pests and not enough plant food.

Patio and San Marzano tomatoes as of today

As the plants grow, you will need to get some stakes, sticks or cages to help hold the plant and keep it growing nice and straight. Once the tomatoes come, if you don't have something for your plant to hold on to, the weight of the tomatoes can snap your plant into pieces and there goes your growing season! Your plant might not even grow any tomatoes without some added support. So make sure you have some cages for those tomatoes. Home Depot sells them at a decent price and they come in all kinds of colors. I am going to be buying some this weekend, as my plants have gotten bigger faster than I expected.

Patio Tomato 2 weeks ago

As you can see from the pictures, I planted basil in the same pot as my patio tomato plant. I had read that planting basil and tomatoes together was good for the tomato plant. It helps attract bees for pollination and keep away harmful bugs that can eat away your tomato plant. I have noticed that these tomato plants have grown much faster and fuller than the last ones I had, perhaps the basil has something to do with this. But I also found that the basil doesn't do as well in the container with tomatoes as it does in a container with other herbs. So I might go buy some more basil and plant it in its own container as a back up.

By now you are probably thinking "wait a minute, didn't she say she planted ONE tomato plant? why are there Two?" Well, when I went to go buy my lemon tree at the Merryfield Garden Center, I saw the aisle for tomato plants and decided to just take a look.

Yeah, right.

I found a San Marzano Roma tomato plant and I HAD TO buy it. Just think, I can have my very own San Marzano tomatoes this summer and live my dreams of Tuscany on my Balcony in DC. I am a little skeptical as to how this San Marzano will do this summer, but it looks really healthy and happy, so maybe it will do just fine. I had planted a basil plant in this container as well, but that plant died for some reason. I think I didn't plant it deep enough in the container. I will try once more to see what the problem might be. It could be overwatering or not enough sun since the leaves of the tomato are so long. I have learned that basil is sensitive to over watering as well as too much or too little sun. So it could be a combination of those two things that caused the last basil casualty.

San Marzano tomato

I'll do updates throughout the summer on how my plants are doing as well as how the tomatoes taste, but for now, I'll just sit back and enjoy the waiting process =).

*Sorry for the sideways picture, blogger isn't cooperating with my file sizes today =(

Balcony Tour

Hey everyone,

I've been writing posts about gardening and I figured I write another one with a quick tour of my balcony.

As you can see I have quite a lot of different things growing. I have hanging baskets with flowers, vegetables, herbs, fruits, and pet grass. I organized the different pots around according to how the sun lights up the balcony during certain times of the day so my plants get the exposure that they need. 

I haven't taken care to spray paint and spruce up my containers because I worry about the chemicals from spray paint eventually leeching into the soil and being absorbed by my plants. I can always avoid painting the inside of the pot, but for now, I am going to be extra careful until I find a safe way to paint them. 

I did make room in my balcony for some chairs and a table. I got the table at Target and the chairs are mementos from college. I also recently bought this indoor/outdoor rug at Target. It is from their Threshold collection, which I really like. I think the rug makes the area look more inviting.

And finally I got this white container at Target to store all of my gardening tools/materials/extras.

I do have some Christmas lights around the railing of the balcony, which makes it look more inviting and a little romantic at night. I also need to hang the birdhouses I painted (you can read about that here) as well as the long flower bed.

I would like to organize the storage bin a little bit better and get a small outdoor rug for where the door is so dirt doesn't get dragged indoors. I am limited on space, but this current set up is a nice little getaway from all of the hustle and bustle of the city. Check out the beautiful flowers I planted! They are blooming like crazy! Can't wait to hang this flower bed!

When Life Gives You Lemons..

... make much more than just lemonade!

At least that is what I am planning on doing with my lemons this summer. If you remember from a previous blog post, I recently invested on a lemon tree. Yes. I am growing a lemon tree. On my balcony. In the middle of a big city. How'd you like them apples.. err.. lemons?

There she is. Isn't she beautiful? I picked her out at a nursery in VA called Merrifield Gardens. She was one of a few container lemon trees they had for sale. I had to choose between Meyer lemon trees and Eureka. I was leaning towards Meyer and my boyfriend was leaning towards the Eureka. I never knew lemons came in different varieties, and I now know the difference between those two kinds.

You're wondering the same thing, aren't you? What's the difference?

Well Meyer lemons are a little less acidic than Eureka lemons. They are also more frost resistant and have much thinner skins. These types of lemons are thought to be a cross between a "true" lemon and an orange or a mandarin and are more delicate to ship and less commonly found. Eureka lemons are the more common lemons you buy at a supermarket. They grow year round through all four seasons and have a thicker skin and are more acidic than Meyer lemons.

So naturally, after learning about the two varieties my next question was, which is the better choice for baking? Meyer lemons won that round because of their sweeter taste. So I insisted that we buy a Meyer lemon tree. However, my boyfriend kept pushing for Eureka, saying we could use it for much more than just baking. And although the Meyer would be great for making lemonade and lemon bars, a more acidic lemon would be better for fish and tomato sauces. So I went ahead and reluctantly agreed to buy a Eureka lemon tree.  I figured I could always sweetened whatever I was baking with some raw blue agave syrup if i needed to. Plus the boyfriend agreed to pay for the tree, which wasn't cheap to begin with! $60 for that healthy tree.. we better get some good lemons this season!

Which is why we took every step necessary to ensure our lemon tree would thrive this season. We bought the extra good organic soil with worm castings to plant it in, we bought gravel to prevent over-watering, and we bought organic citrus feed (we mix 1 scoop with 1 gallon of water) which we give the tree once every 10 days. All while it gets to chill on a nice sunny spot on my balcony. This tree is loving life right now, and after a few weeks, it has already began to sprout some blossoms and new leaves. This is great news to us new parents. It means our tree is happy and healthy and growing and before we know it we will have tons of lemons!

Which is more than I can say for this little fellow...

Any guesses as to what this is?? It is a blackberry stick. Well... I bought a blackberry plant and planted it as an experiment this season to see if I could grow it and what that would entail and so far, I have a stick growing out of a pot.. and it's been that way for about a month now. I saw some gorgeous blackberry plants at the nursery but they too were $60 and I couldn't afford $60 on that when I needed to pay for all of my other herbs and vegetables too. So I am hoping this stick turns into something soon.. otherwise I may have to wash some cars to earn enough cash to go buy a blackberry bush.

In the meantime, I will continue to fall in love with my lemon tree and dream of summer days full of lemon bars, lemonades, and hopefully blackberry pies.

Anyone have experience growing blackberries or other citrus trees? What are your tips?

Cinco de Mojito Part Dos

Now that you are getting over your blackberry mojito hangover... I am sure you have been dreaming about those fish tacos! And nothing cures a hangover like some delicious homemade food.

I'd like to extend my gratitude to Bon Appetit for making me the best house chef in the world (at least that's how I feel every time I make this recipe). Here is what you'll need:

Pico de Gallo

5 Plum tomatoes, seeded, chopped

1/2 small yellow onion, chopped

4 scallions, white and light-green parts only, chopped

1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp chopped fresh oregano

1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, minced

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Crema

1/4 cup of heavy cream

2 tbsp of sour cream

kosher salt

ground pepper

hot pepper sauce

Tacos

1 tbsp of paprika

1 tsp of garlic powder

1tsp of onion powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 lb of mahi mahi

canola oil

tortillas

lime wedges

chopped cabbage

Directions

For the pico: 

Combine the ingredients in a bowl, season to taste

For the crema:

Whisk cream and sour cream in a bowl to blend. Season to taste with salt, pepper and hot sauce.

For the tacos:

Combine all dried ingredients in a bowl. Sprinkle over fish. Brush a grill pan with canola oil and place fish over medium-hight heat. Cook for about 5 minutes per side. Remove from stove and place on a plate. Using a fork, shred the fish into pieces to stuff into the tacos. Fill tortillas with fish, pico, crema and the shredded cabbage and squeeze a lime wedge on top and enjoy!

Pretty easy right? And trust me when I say that these are delicious! If you're looking for some good quality "fresh" fish, I usually go to Whole Foods. But I have made these tacos with frozen wild caught fish from Trader Joe's as well as Whole Foods frozen fish selection and they still taste delicious (we don't have Publix up north, otherwise I would def. give them a try!). If you live close to the ocean you can find places that sell "catch of the day" or other fresh caught fish. I try to make sure that whatever fish I buy, whether it is Mahi Mahi or Tilapia or Sole, is a fish that is responsibly caught or farmed. Over fishing, poor fishing techniques and poor farming techniques are wrecking havoc on the ocean. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the type of fish you eat and its impact on the environment, check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium Pocket Guides. I use these every time I buy seafood thanks to my boyfriend's sister. She currently works at The Woods Hole Marine Bio Lab and gave us a much needed lesson on buying seafood responsibly. She rocks!

Now that you know all about responsible fish consumption, you can sit back and enjoy some delicious fish tacos and blackberry mojitos! Check these party decor ideas for Cinco de Mayo! I wish I had a big backyard so I could host a Cinco de Mayo party like this!

Martha Stweart

Hostess with the Mostess Blog

Home Seasons

Chic Coastal Living

I hope your weekend is filled with sunshine, delicious foods, refreshing drinks and plenty of gooooood times! And don't forget, drink responsibly!

Cinco de Mojito Part Uno

Forget Cinco de Mayo, this weekend I am celebrating Cinco de Mojito! Ayayayayayaya!

Just kidding..

Sort of.

Most kids my age (kids?) celebrate this day by drinking motherloads of (usually cheap) tequilas, margaritas, daquiris and anything else that sounds remotely Mexican in origin. I on the other hand, like to spend this day eating ridiculous amounts of Mexican food. Because who doesn't like food? Have you ever had authentic Mexican food? It is AMAZING! So for this special "holiday" post, I have the perfect recipe to share for your weekend festivities; delicious Mahi Mahi fish tacos with homemade crema and pico de gallo. This is my favorite fish taco recipe hands down. And this year I decided to pair it with some blackberry mojitos with fresh mint from my garden... even though I am secretly angry that my blackberry and lemon plants take soooo long to bloom and give me fruit that I had to go buy lemons and blackberries instead. Still.. when they do.. get ready for some lemon/blackberry recipe overload.

But before I begin to stuff my face with tacos, I'd like to share this mojito recipe to kick start the weekend food binge festivities. Because otherwise, I will be in a food coma and who knows when i'll be alive again to blog. With that said..

Blackberry Mojitos anyone?

Even though Mojitos are a Cuban drink (sorry Mexicans), I still like to drink them with my fish tacos. And I prefer them over Margaritas and Daquiris. Especially during beautiful 70 degree weather. Margaritas and Daquiris, although delicious, can be a bit too sugary for my taste. Plus, I have never quite gotten used to the flavor of tequila. Sorry Jose Cuervo. So here's what you'll need for this cocktail.

Driscoll's Blackberry Mojitos

Mojito

12 blackberries

12 large mint leaves

4 tsp of sugar

1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp of fresh lime juice

1/2 cup of seltzer water or club soda

1/4 cup of white rum

8 ice cubes

Directions

Muddle balckberries, mint, sugar, lemon juice and lime juice until berries are almost crushed. Add seltzer, rum and ice. Stir well and serve. 

And there you have it. A refreshing mojito to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. I will save the fish tacos recipe for tomorrow's post! So come back and check it out if you want a food coma this weekend!

Hasta Manana!