Mid-Summer Garden Update

Hey guys!

So it's been a while since I've written a post.. so sorry about that! My 7+yr old Macbook is finally on it's last leg and it has made blogging, emailing, facebook stalking, and pinterest drooling impossible. But I have finally managed to get it to somewhat work for a quick post! (I am pretty sure this quick post will take me an hr to load/type at the rate this is going).

I have to say, 7+yrs with a laptop is pretty good, right? Someday I will be able to afford a new Macbook, but for now I hope this thing gets me thru at least a few more months. I started out as a PC user, I've had Compaq (remember those! haha man I am old), Toshiba, Vaio, Dell, HP, and not a single one of those lasted me more than 2 yrs. This Macbook though, has made it for so long that I don't think I could ever go back to PC. Although the new Windows tablets do look much more intriguing (and budget friendly) than the iPad of even a Macbook.

Anyway, enough about that, let me give you a quick garden update!

Remember this?! This is my blackberry plant! It used to be just a wooden stick growing out of a pot (that stick broke btw) and now look at it! It is almost as tall as I am! Which brings me to a quick question, how tall are these supposed to get? And how long until I get some blackberries over here!

In my last post I talked about how I was growing these frankenpeppers and how I was praying that they were sweet peppers given I already had too many hot peppers growing thanks to Merrifield's crappy labeling system... well... they are not. And I found out the hard way. These things are freaking hot. I could not feel my lips or my tongue for a good half hour. Anyone want a shipment of super hot peppers? I am guessing these are anaheims? FML

And this right here.. well.. on the far right is my container lemon tree. Totally worth the investment! I have a good 6 lemons growing and the plant is still blooming. Bring it on lemon tree! Right next to that is my Patio tomato plant. That plant is worth every penny, I have had so many tomatoes come from that, despite the fact that it is still battling some disease from earlier this summer, it has held up pretty well. And right next to that.. guess what that freakishly huge plant is.. It is a pepper plant! Isn't that ridunkulous? That plant is taller than my blackberry plant. And it is dropping a motherload of peppers. It is supposed to be a Giant Marconia pepper plant.. we will see if that's what it really ends up being or not.

You may have noticed these giant bamboo sticks coming out of some of my pots. I got these sticks at Home Depot to help support my plants, including my tomatoes. The cages are too cumbersome for a balcony garden so I opted for these sticks. I got a pack of 6 for $2. Crazy cheap considering one plastic stick costs you a little over $2. I just used some twine to tie the plants to the bamboo and voila! It made a huge difference and I will probably buy more as the plants continue to grow. Thanks for selling such a great deal Home Depot! Speaking of great deals, they are currently having some of their flowers on sale! I bought some new mums to replace my older ones that were badly injured during the disease and aphids infestation from earlier this summer. 

I got some new recipes and projects to blog about so hopefully this laptop makes it long enough so I can add some new posts more regularly! Otherwise, can I get an early christmas present? hahaha

Frankenpeppers?

So this year I think I may have bought a plant of Frankenpeppers. When I went to the Merrifield nursery in VA a few months ago to buy my pepper plants I bought two banana pepper plants.. at least that's what the label said. Fast forward a few months and I have this giant pepper growing that does not look like a banana pepper at all.

Can anyone guess what kind of pepper this is? My guess is an anaheim pepper. I am seriously hoping it is something sweet because we just found out one of our Cubanelle pepper plants is a spicy one.. thanks to yet another mislabeled pot.

So here it is, my 6+ inch long frankenpepper. Has anyone had issues with buying mislabeled pepper pots before? I've been thinking that because 3 of my pepper plants are not what they were advertised to be, that I will return to Merrifield and ask for some sort of store credit for the next growing season or something. How have you guys resolved similar issues? 

I am happy to say though, that after struggling with some disease/mold/aphids this season, my plants are growing like crazy and are very healthy. Just check out my lemons! The container lemon tree is doing great, so the $60 investment seems like it will pay off. I don't think I will get $60 worth of lemons just yet, so far there are 6 lemons growing on the plant. But the tree just bloomed like crazy again and I was told that if I bring the plant indoors during the winter, it will continue to produce lemons. So we will see what the total lemon count is for this year.

The tomato plants have been a hit and miss. The San Marzano tomatoes are not container friendly. They are a tomato plant best left for actual gardens and not balcony gardens. The patio tomato though, has been dropping tomatoes like crazy. I've already eaten two and I have another one ready for picking and 7 more still growing. Next season I will invest in Patio tomato plants rather than something like a San Marzano. It grows best on my balcony and the yield is worth the investment. 

Here are my Habanero and Spicy Cubanelle pepper plants. These aren't as big as my other pepper plants because I bought these not too long ago thinking I would have to replace my garden beds because of disease and aphids. I just picked the Habanero and had it with my spicy spaghetti recipe. I also used some of my lemon thyme and tomatoes for this. So yummy! I can taste the difference when I make this recipe using homegrown ingredients versus store bought. I can't wait until the lemons are ready and I can add those to this recipe! 

I will keep dreaming of the day when I can afford to buy a home with a huge yard just so I can plan a zillion different types of vegetables and fruits. Or maybe I should change careers and become a farmer? That would sure beat dealing with Washington bureaucracy! hahaha.

Burlap and Lace Placemats

I've also been wanting to update the furniture/decor in my apartment for some time now from the old mismatched college stuff to a more adult cohesive style. Pinterest has been very instrumental in helping me decide what style I want to embrace in my apartment. After much deliberating, I have concluded that I am too scattered brain and indecisive to just pick one style.. and that I should probably just keep all of my mismatched college stuff until I get married.. or move in with someone.. or both?

I decided to tackle one little section/room at a time since I don't have a budget for everything. This way I feel less pressured to pick a style just yet. And the first thing I've been focusing on is my kitchen and dining area. I really like the farmhouse style for the dining area with a small modern twist. I would love to buy a wooden dining table, but for now, my metal/glass ikea one will have to do. I can still bring that farmhouse vibe to the dining room with some small and simple touches. That's where the placemats come in.

I've been searching for some cute shabby chic placemats and it's been hard to find ones I am in love with. So I decided to make my own. I went to Michael's and bought a roll of burlap that is 10ft long and meant to be used as a table runner. It was $12.99 for the roll. I also bought a roll of white lace trim for $2 (I used some coupons). But of course, I didn't have enough lace so I had to go back for more.

You will need:
Burlap
Lace trim
Scissors
Hot glue gun
A placemat for sizing purposes
Elmer's glue

So here's what I did.

1. I took a placemat to measure the right size for the placemats. Thankfully, the burlap roll is the perfect width for a placemat. So I only had to make one cut to make them the right size.
2. Use a sharp scissor to cut! It will make cutting burlap so much easier. Cut along the line (I used a pencil to mark the spot). You will see that the burlap will want to fray and come apart a little bit. I let it fray a tiny bit, and then with some Elmer's glue sealed the edges to prevent further fraying.
3. Cut the lace to the right size so that it goes around the edges of the burlap. 
4. Carefully line the lace with some hot glue and glue to the placemat along the edge. 
5. Push the lace down with something so that you don't burn your fingers
6. Let dry and voila!

It was pretty easy to make the placemats. They aren't as sturdy as ones you could buy at the store, but they are sturdy enough to use as decor for a dinner party or something. I will definitely be using these when I have guests over for dinner/lunch. 

The centerpiece is an arrangement of faux flowers I got on clearance at Bed Bath and Beyond for $8. They came attached to a brown base that I didn't like so I cut them off and put them in a small glass container. The little white lanterns are also from BBB and they too are on clearance for $5.99! They come with little light up candles too! The centerpiece and the lantern really help tie in the shabby chic/farmhouse look to the table. I can't wait until the day comes when I can afford a new dining table =). 

Southwest Flank Steak Salad

This weekend I tried out a new recipe I sort of made up on my own. And it was a huge hit.

::victory lap::

Phew! I was worried that after spending a pretty penny on a piece of flank steak it was going to turn out not so yummy. But thankfully, it was a delicious meal with plenty of left overs! I love left overs, means less cooking and cleaning during the week and good lunches to take to work too, which saves me lots of money each month. Think about it, here in DC the food trucks are everywhere (and a lot of them are delicious too), but each meal costs you about $10. Do that for every lunch and you are easily spending $50 a week and $200 a month! That's a lot!

I am often too tired after work to cook elaborate meals, especially after coming back from the gym. But the time spent making one big meal with lots of left overs is worth the amount of money I could potentially save up each month. I'm always looking for new recipes for lunch leftovers and I have been seeing a lot of Pinterest pics for a Southwest type salad. A lot of them look delicious, but once I would read the ingredients I was quickly disappointed at how few ingredients there were or how bland the dressing and steak seasoning was. So I decided to make up my own steak salad and search for a salad dressing with great reviews. That's when I found the recipe for the Cheesecake Factory's Santa Fe salad dressing. It had great reviews, the ingredients were easy to find and the prep time was quick. Best of all, it was the perfect choice for the salad and steak.

So here we go, the ingredients and directions for how to make my version of a Southwest Flank Steak Salad.

Ingredients for the salad and steak (makes enough for 4-6 people)

• 4 corns on the cob
• 2 bell peppers (I used red and green)
• 1 can of black beans (drained)
• 1 cup of shredded carrots
• 1 bunch of scallions (diced)
• half a red onion (diced)
• 1-2 heads of iceberg lettuce
• 1-2 packets of spinach and romaine lettuce 
• 1 lbs of flank steak (you can use any type of steak, but flank has less fat than skirt steak and is cheaper than tenderloin, I spent $14 for the lb at Whole Foods but check out Costco or other stores for better deals)
• 1 bottle of Stubb's Texas Steakhouse meat marinade (I used maybe a quarter of the bottle)
• 1 avocado
• 1 small container of cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions

• Place the steak in a zip lock bag and pour some of the Stubb's marinade to coat the steak. Let it marinade in the fridge overnight or for a few hours. 30 min minimum. 
• Rinse and chop up all the vegetables (except the corn and peppers) into bite size pieces and put them in a bowl. 
• Add the shredded carrots and the well drained black beans into the bowl. 
• Add as much lettuce as you want, I added about 2 heads of iceberg lettuce mixed with 1 large basket size packet of spinach and romaine lettuce. 
• Cut the peppers in half, seeded.
• Rub olive oil, salt and black pepper all over each corn until well coated.
• Take the peppers and the corn to the grill and cook until done. Make sure to turn them to each side for an even cook
• Once the peppers and corn are done, cut the peppers into bite size pieces and with a knife, cut the corn from the cob. Add them to the salad bowl. 
• Grill the steak on med-high and turn on each side for a few minutes until cooked. I cooked mine medium to medium well. About 5 minutes on each side, depending on your grill. Slice the meat into pieces and add to the salad

For the dressing

• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 1 big bunch of cilantro (most of stalk ends chopped off)
• 1/2 cup of fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 tsp of wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp of cumin
• 3/4 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tbsp of honey
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup of olive oil
• 2 tbsp of peanut butter

Mince the garlic and ginger in a food processor. Add the cilantro and process until finely chopped. Add spices, lime juice, vinegar, honey and cheese. Process until well mixed. Slowly pour the olive oil and let mix in the processor for 1 more minute. Finally, add the peanut butter, mix until everything is well blended. The dressing will be green and thick, but very delicious!

Add the dressing to your salad, mix well and serve! I served mine with some tortilla chips and salsa on the side and sparkling water ($.79 at Trader Joe's). Pretty quick and easy to make this meal and it is great as left overs too. 

4th of July Beer Brats and Truffle Fries

I love Wisconsin!

Really, I do.

Spending my college years in Madison, WI was the best decision I ever made. I learned so much about life in college, and a lot of those lessons came from the wonderful midwestern friends I made. If Wisconsin didn't have such harsh winters I'd probably still live there. Seriously though, the winters sucked. Try walking to class in a foot of snow and with a -15 windchill. Of all the years I spent there, we only had 1 snow day. Yes, one. And that was only because we got close to two feet of snow in less than 24hrs. We all went crazy that night, building giant snowballs to block all the roads leading up to campus, building army of snowmen to deter the snow plows from coming thru, and best of all, building giant snow penises in front of the Dean's office. Yup. That's my school. And those nights were always followed by the campus wide snowball fight and food tray sledding.  

Going to such an amazing university as the University of Wisconsin-Madison had its many perks. One of those perks was football season and tailgating. That's where I learned all about Miller Lite, cheese curds and beer brats. I blame the curds, brats and beer for the "freshman 15 (more like 22)"(I obviously did not drink 'till I was 21 mom).

So for this post, I am going to share my version of beer brats.. because I could never recreate the deliciousness from the annual Wisconsin Brat Fest while living in DC.

I don't eat pork very often, so I sometimes substitute pork brats with chicken sausages from Whole Foods. The sausages are delicious grilled, but they can't compare to the original beer brats. You can choose whichever type of sausage you want. If you live in Wisconsin, you will have many delicious options to choose from. If you're like me and are stuck in DC, I recommend the Johnsonville brand of brats. You can find them at most grocery stores.

Buy how ever many sausages you will need along with some cheap beer. I usually use Miller Lite. Boil the beer in a big pot, poke the sausages with a fork, and place them in the pot to boil. Let them cook in the pot for a few minutes until ready. I sometimes turn down the heat to slow cook the brats in beer for extra flavor. 

Once they are cooked, remove from the pot and bring them over to the grill to grill the outside of the brat. Some people choose not to cook the brats all the way in the pot of beer so as to not overcook them on the grill, but you're only toasting the outside of the brat for some of that grill/charcoal flavor. Once you have the outside golden, take them off the grill and let them cool a bit.

And start piling on the toppings!

An original brat will have some saurkraut and mustard on there and a nice glass of cold beer. I like to eat mine the Venezuelan way.. I top my brats with brown mustard, onions, parmesan cheese, a little bit of ketchup, and some potato chips or those little french fry type chips. I also spread a little mayo on the bun. And of course, I like having it with a beer too. I try to drink a little fancier beer with my meals now-a-days, well.. sometimes, so I normally drink some Goose Island, Sprecker's or Leinekugel's (summer shandy is my favorite).

For the home made french fries, I slice 5 russet potatoes (for 6 people) length wise into thin strips. I toss them in olive oil and place them on a lightly oiled pan and drizzle some truffle oil (you can find truffle oil at Whole Foods, World Market and even TJ Maxx). Pop it in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 min. Take them out, flip them, and pop them in for another 30 min. Some ovens may cook them faster or longer than that, that's how long they take to cook in my oven. Once they are done, I toss them in this truffle salt I found in the bulk section at Whole Foods. You only need to use a little bit, so don't worry about having to buy a big bulk of it.

Pretty easy, huh?

I am serving my 4th of July brats and fries on these cute baskets I just bought at Sur la Table for a $1.56 each. Wal Mart sells a pack of 4 for $5. The liner paper is also from Sur la Table, and that was on sale for $4.50 for a pack of 25. Cute and not too expensive, right? That's my kind of party for sure.

Happy 4th of July (week) everyone! I hope ya'll get some great weather for fireworks watching! I know I'll be watching fireworks over the Washington Monument this year. It is nice to live in DC sometimes =).