We ended up getting quite a bit of local booty this week from The Root Cellar. I made two trips there so I could stock up on a few things. I am going to take a break from baking this weekend, as I have missed having the time to make some new dishes I have wanted to try. I also have some gardening work I need to take care of. I learned that while our greens are growing a bit leggy and thus probably need some extra support, the cats also have a lot to do with why some of our plants are struggling. I think it is time to start another pot of kitty grass to keep their interest in our plants down. Brett told me that the other day, he had to get Nermal out of the cucumber pot, and get her to stop putting our pepper plants in her mouth and shaking them. Pesky critters!
You will notice that there is no ciabatta from Uprise this week. I went there yesterday morning, and they were running a little behind schedule, I didn't really have time to wait, so I decided to nix the soup and bread night this week. Instead, I am going to try Indian food again. I'm feeling brave, so I am going to make veggie samosas and a garbanzo bean curry (aka chickpeas - am I the only one who calls them garbanzo beans?). Hopefully it doesn't end in disaster, but I feel I cannot judge a cuisine from a couple of bad experiences. I did get a few granola bars while I was at Uprise for work breakfasts, but I left them in my office, so there is no picture.
Anyways, check out our local booty from The Root Cellar this week:
I believe this trip ran about $30.
Starting from the bottom right: 4 lbs. small yellow potatoes, 4 lbs. sweet potatoes, olive oil (not local), dried rosemary (I'm not sure if this is local rosemary or not, I will assume it is not), Zia's pasta sauce (it is good!), and two bags of walnuts (local nuts didn't do so well this year, I am stocking up while I can).
And the second trip, I think this load ran about $40.
Starting from the bottom right: local heirloom tomatoes, 2 jalapenos, 2 Anaheim peppers, oyster mushrooms, 2 red onions, 2 bulbs of garlic (I'm a little OCD with the local garlic), carrots, eggs, frozen peas (not local), 2 green bell peppers, a head of cabbage, salad greens, spinach, chestnuts (!!!!!), and kidney beans (!!!!!).
The stock of local tomatoes at the Cellar seems to be reduced each week. I honestly cannot believe that we've still been able to get local tomatoes this late into the year. We think that someone might have a greenhouse or something. I'll be sad when they aren't available anymore, but am very thankful to still have them when its so chilly outside.
Brett snapped this picture this week and I thought I'd share:
The rare sight of Gabby and Nermal being nice to each other. Only in sleep can they get along sometimes, it goes through phases.
I realized that I forgot to talk about fantasy football and our football picks last week (I know you are all so disappointed). We won our game last week and have now officially clinched our division. Our fantasy football team is going to the playoffs! We have some roster issues though. Since Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg with an illegal weapon (talk about a role model!), he has is out for the rest of the season. He is one of our best receivers. I've been thinking about picking up Hixon (from the Giants) since it seems he would likely to get more catches with Plax out. We've still got Greg Jennings (Green Bay) who might be our best receiver, we've got Vincent Jackson (Chargers) who hasn't done too bad, and then we have Hank Baskett (Eagles) who, whenever we decide not to start him, gets touchdowns and something like 5 catches, but when we do start him, he doesn't even get looked at. I think we are going to see what is available in the free agency.
Brett is catching up with me on football picks, just like he did last year! My lead is down to one game, and we split on, I believe, 5 games this weekend. It is an exciting year to be a football fan!
Another random aside: am I the only one who really digs classic NFL Films music? Seriously, it's some good stuff!
Anywho, I hope everyone has a great weekend!
'Til next time.
9 comments:
Wow, I can't believe you're still getting tomatoes in December! you lucky... I hope your Indian experiment goes well, I'm sure you'll have a new post soon telling us how awesome it was :-).
Remember I told you I hadn't read Collapse because I only have it in German and I found it too hard to read? My dad lent it to me in Spanish when I went to visit him! I better hurry up because I have to give it back to him in Christmas and I'm still reading the first chapter, but I like it a lot already.
Looking good! Wow! You really made out wonderfully this week! We had local tomatoes too and found out that the girl from Millican has a greenhouse. She's promised tomatoes year-round! No joke!
You're fill-in meal for tonight's soup and bread dinner sounds fabulous. Indian is great! I'm looking forward to photos!
You know, our cats eat our plants too! We had to put the plants in one of the rooms we don't use and shut them off. Of course, they didn't eat the parsley or the basil (stuff I would have thought tasted good). They wanted the leaves off the pepper plant. What? Silly kitties! :)
Samosa's -- that's pretty ambitious! I really like Batra's Indian Vegetarian (1994) cookbook, not vegan, but it will really teach you indian cooking techniques simply. But, alas, my partner's not real excited about indian.
veggie samosas sounds great! Hope you enjoy the meal and continue recovering.
hooray for feeling better and slightly warmer weather! it was cooler this weekend - making dan & i a bit sadfaced. i guess i should expect it to be cool - but 21 was just coooooooold for virginia!
i bet your indian yummies will be awesome! i cannot wait to read about them! yay!
Plaxico's an idiot. i cannot believe he #1. shot himself and #2. was carrying a weapon illegally. jeez! and Hixon made me sadfaced with his dropping the ball! argh! i was soooooooo supersadfaced that the Giants lost - although they should have - they were playing like idiots! :(
your local loot looks awesome! i'm totally jealousface of the chestnuts. they're one of my favorites! and your kitties look so cute together! i hope they stay out of your plants! we have to keep all of our plants up really high because ours make a mess out of them, too! grrrrrrrr! they're so cute though! :)
Walker will have tomatoes for a couple more weeks and yes, he does have a greenhouse. Three, actually, I believe.
Glad you're feeling a little better. I know EXACTLY what you mean about the cats. I can't have plants because my cats would have the whole pot upturned. I've tried and they destroy them every time. Of course, I do have six cats, so I'm a little outnumbered.
It's been cold all of a sudden here in Connecticut too.... glad you are feeling better!
Go for the Indian food... a few more attempts and you'll likely get the feel of it. (Although I am a bit biased, having been raised by Indian parents, lol!) Maybe try a basic veg dish and serve over some rice, with some dahl on the side? A lot of what I find is getting the basic 3-4 everyday cooking methods/formulae down makes the difference, and then its a matter of improvising with those techniques using different ingredients, if that makes sense....
And WALNUTS - can we say jealousy!!! It is so hard to find local nuts here (read: impossible for me so far) I envy you that. Plus the beans, quite the week of goodies :-)
Alice - I couldn't either, but as you can see in Scott's note below, our hunch about there being a greenhouse was right on, we might see tomatoes for a few more weeks!
Our Indian experiment went "eh", I've got the post up now. I really just think the flavor combination is too strong for our tastes.
Oh that is too cool about Collapse. I think you will really enjoy that book. It was a little "slow starting" for me too, if that makes any sense, I started reading it and it seemed to take me forever to get through the first chapter or two, and then I just tore through it after that.
Heather - I know, I was surprised that there was such a variety. That is super cool about the tomatoes - year round local tomatoes? Oh my goodness! Texas looks better and better by the day. Find me a walkable city down there with public transport and here we come!
There is something about cats and plants. It is just weird to me which ones they go after. Ours are like yours, they haven't gone for the herbs, they go for the pepper plants. What is wrong with them?
Susan B - They were a little more involved than I had thought, but they weren't difficult to make, just time consuming. I think I'm more in line with your partner, we've tried Indian now 3 times (toning down the spices each time of course) and it is still just too much. There are certain things I can appreciate about it, but I think that I'm done experimenting with it for the most part.
Lisa - They were pretty darn tasty! Thanks!
Jessy - Oh, you got the opposite of what we got! I love the seasons, but for some reason, once winter is upon us (and there is no turning back!) I am a bit bitter about the cold weather - and it is not as though it is a surprise.
I know he IS an idiot! They are really harsh about weapons laws in NY too, so of all places to pull some shit like that! I was really sad too, I was hoping Hixon would settle into the starting role smoothly, but there was a true lack of chemistry and communication between he and Eli. Some of the passes he dropped to were thrown perfectly. I was sad they lost too, but I agree, they deserved it, if you are going to play that bad (I think we saw a resurgence of "Bad Eli" this weekend) then you are likely going to lose the game.
I am excited about the chestnuts. I am going to make a stuffing out of them at some point, and I am contemplating some sort of sauce made with them, yum!
I loved the picture of them sleeping together, they look so cute and peaceful. I hope they stay out of our plants too, but I think, in the end, if we want to have both cats and plants (which we do), then we will have to deal with a little critter interference from time to time.
If they weren't cute, they'd be in some big trouble wouldn't they? :-)
Scott - Thanks for the heads up. That is really nice to know, I will take advantage of them as long as they are available. Any idea what else he plans on growing in the greenhouses he has? Any mid-winter veggie surprises I can look forward to?
Thanks again for the info on the tomatoes - more local tomatoes in December = One Happy J.
Bianca - Thanks, I am too.
Haha, well with 6 you are definitely outnumbered, I don't think I could keep them all out of the plants, nor do I think I would have the energy to try. They must keep you pretty darn busy.
Living In A Local Zone - Don't you hate how winter sneaks up on you sometimes? Thank you, I am glad to be feeling better too.
This Indian experience was far better than the ones in the past, but I think it might just be a little too flavorful for me. I am biased towards Mexican too, I wasn't raised with Mexican parents, but was raised on Mexican and Tex-Mex foods.
They were getting low on local walnuts, so I made sure to grab a couple of bags in case they aren't available anymore. I'm sad you can't get nuts. I guess each region has its pros and cons. I am super jealous of all the local varieties of flours you have access to.
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