Salsa Verde

We recently received a bag of tomatillos in our CSA delivery. I didn't recognize them at first since I've never seen a tomatillo in person, but I soon figured it out. Green, size of a cherry tomato, covered by a weird papery husk. Interesting. I cut one in half and took a nibble. Very interesting. The texture is completely different from a regular tomato. Pretty firm and crisp, almost melon like. Taste is also very different. I'm sure no one eats these raw. But what to do with them...

Of course, make salsa verde!

This recipe is pretty easy and came out very tasty. I substituted purple onion since I didn't have yellow, and the recipe actually called for 1 1/2 tsp salt but I only used 1 tsp. I even think I would use less than that next time. I just wish we hadn't run out of chips. This salsa is quite addicting.


Tomatillo Salsa Verde
Courtesy of AllRecipes.com

1 pound tomatillos, husked
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 serrano chile peppers, minced
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 cups water

Place tomatillos, onion, garlic, and chile pepper into a saucepan. Season with cilantro, oregano, cumin, and salt; pour in water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the tomatillos are soft, 10 to 15 minutes.

Using a blender, carefully puree the tomatillos and water in batches until smooth.

Melting

Seriously, it's hot. Very hot. I know I can't regulate my body temperature well (Badge thinks I'm like a lizard), but this is bona fide HOT. To prove it, I looked up the weather today...101!! Um, we don't live that far from the coast. If it's 101 here, I can only imagine it being ten degrees hotter inland. Those poor souls.

As a consequence of the heat, many of my plants are showing signs of stress. Curled leaves here, crispy leaves there. In particular, all my mini calla lilies are contracting soft rot, weakened by the extreme heat I'm sure. Sigh. There's only so much you can do. I'm not sure when this heat wave will end since it's been over 90 degrees everyday this week, but Badge and I have come to one undeniable conclusion. We'd like to have a drought resistant garden. No we're not going to convert everything at once (we're not insane). Instead, as plants like the mini calla lily succumb and leave us for plant heaven, we will replace them with succulents and other low water usage plants.

To start, Badge and I went to Home Depot today where we picked up a bed of succulent covers and a bigger succulent plant. Tomorrow, I'll unearth one of the mini calla lilies (maybe the rhizome can be salvaged) and plant the new comers. Additionally, I picked up natural insecticide soap, made of soybean oil, and sprayed down the citrus trees. Hopefully that'll teach the aphids and ants to keep off. We also picked up a kit to convert a sprinkler head to drip irrigation. If it works out well, we'll replace all the heads since drip irrigation is more efficient and wastes less water.


In addition to all this, I made a discovery last night: I'm an idiot. So I was all excited last week that the zucchini plants were producing small green zucchinis. But this week, the zucchinis started turning yellow from the blossom end and then shriveling up and falling off. I thought it was the mold (which seems to be under control now) but after some research I realized that my zucchinis probably weren't pollinated. Maybe that's because I plucked the female flowers off once I saw the veggies (thinking they were already pollinated). DOH! So this morning I ran outside and found two zucchinis still with a female flower attached. I cut a couple male flowers and pollinated them like my life depended on it. Now, all I can do is sit back and cross my fingers.


On the final subject of melting, I went to see Wicked last Wed with Kimbo at the Civic Theatre downtown (she had tickets through work). So good! Granted we missed the first 15 minutes because we were running late and couldn't find parking, but once we got settled it, I was engaged the whole time. Amazing performers, great story. I had read the book a while ago which was also good but a tad long at times. It was nice to see it condensed and sung with catchy melodies.

Ugh

It's 2:17am and I'm sitting at my laptop working because I can't sleep. Was it too much coffee today? Or all the cookies I ate after dinner? Either way, I can't stop thinking about my enormous to-do list for work and at-home. I really need to take a step back and put things in perspective. Time to kiss a cat.

Weekend Happenings

Weekends are too short.

On Friday night, Badge and I ordered a pizza from Regent's Pizzeria (plus garlic bread and tiramisu mmmm) and watched Watchmen at home. Interesting movie. Can't say I loved it but it was entertaining.

On Saturday, I gardened and we hung up the rest of the kitchen cabinets. Thank god the painting project is OVER, although we still need to paint the baseboard and install hardware. Pics to come once that's all done. In the afternoon, we went to Goddess's housewarming/engagement party where we had delicious pulled chicken sandwiches and fajitas by the pool. Several beers and jello shots later, we returned home to hang out and then pass out.

On Sunday, we did many errands: more gardening, cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping. Scooby, Ireland's little brother, came over to play guitar with Badge on drums. The kid is only ten and he's already quite impressive on the guitar. Afterwards, we went to Spike and Frog's for an ice cream party, followed by a loooong game of Cranium. Good times.


This week I'm determined to hit the gym everyday since I haven't been exercising. My pulled muscle feels marginally better so I'm going to give it another week before I return to yoga. In the meantime, I ran yesterday and did elliptical today. That warrants a little treat right? Inspired by Goddess's pulled chicken, Badge and I made bbq pulled pork sandwiches tonight. It was baked in the oven for over an hour, finished on the grill, and then smothered in bbq sauce. Delicious. We also grilled some summer squash and corn that we got this week in our CSA delivery. As you can see, the corn was eaten so quickly it did not make it into the shot.


And sadly, Monkey will not be partaking in fig during her visit. I noticed this sucker getting very ripe over the weekend so I quickly brought it in and ate it like my life depended on it. You ants won't be getting this prize, no sirree.


Lastly, we've started watching the first season of Dexter, a TV show about a serial killer that kills serial killers. Pretty entertaining so far (although there are some gruesome scenes). Off I go to watch more episodes!

Garden Update

It's been a while since I posted a garden update so here it is. The above picture is of a siam tulip which finally bloomed! Interesting looking flower. I'm glad I didn't throw away the bulbs earlier this year when I accidentally unearthed them.

Here are our baby zucchinis. The first zucchini turned yellow and died before it matured so I'm crossing my fingers that these will be ok. I have a feeling we planted these too late in the year. Hopefully they'll make it through.



Unfortunately, several zucchini plants have powdery mildew which might be part of the reason they're aborting my little zucchinis. Apparently, zucchini and squash plants are very susceptible to this pest. I'm too lazy to go buy neem oil so I'm going to try a home remedy I read online: strongly brewed chamomile tea. Wish me luck.


Chili plants are coming along nicely.


Remember the cuttings I took of neighborhood geranium and lantana plants? Well they're both doing quite well. The geranium is even flowering. Soon I'll be able to plant these directly into the ground. Yay for propogation!


Also, one of the figs is starting to brown. If Monkey is lucky maybe it'll be ripe by the time she gets here. I'm willing to ration with her.

Movie Review: Julie & Julia

Last night, I went to see a movie with the girls (Spike, Kris, Geraldine, and Kim). We watched Julie & Julia, a movie based on two true stories, one about Julia Child and the other about Julie Powell.

Julia Child, as everyone knows, is the famously eccentric cook who shaped a generation of cooking in America. The movie followed her life in the 1940's and 1950's when she first discovered her love of cooking (she always had a love of eating). Eventually, she coauthors the cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking (many more later) and hosts a cooking show on television, though the movie ends at the publishing of her book. Interweaving Julia's story is the story of Julie Powell, a New Yorker with a dead end job and knacking for leaving tasks unfinished. Inspired by her love of cooking, she challenges herself to cook all 524 recipes in Julia's cookbook in 365 days. And of course BLOG about it.

As it turns out, I really enjoyed this movie. Everything was well done, from the acting to the screen play to the directing. All the food scenes were delectable (I was practically drooling) and all the characters lovable. Highly recommended!

Asian Fro

Ok seriously, what is up with my hair? In all my AFC race pictures, I look like an Asian Chia Pet. I've come to the conclusion that my hair is too wiry for short hair; it tends to have a mind of it's own. Oh well, I least I tried it out. Now I'll just have to wait for it to grow past the awkward mullet stage...