Lindsay's jars and the balcony garden!

Ok, Linds, since you asked... these are what your jars are up to:

Those jars are enjoying a life filled with (literally) homemade granola and granola ingredients!

They have quite the social life, being so close to so many neighbors: Coffee Jar*, Honey Jar*, Sugar Jar*, Shredded Coconut Jar*, Rice Jar*, Red Pepper Flake Jar*, and Oats Jar*.  

*no relation

And heeeeeeeeeeere's the balcony garden (so far)!

Sage, Lemon Thyme, and Onions. Sweet mug pots, right?!

Left pot: Basil, Lettuce, and Tomato.  Middle pot: Cherry Tomato, Broccoli, and  Lettuce. Right pot: Cherry Tomato and Lettuce.

Tadaaaaaaa!  

Thanks again for the cookie jars and the fabulous cookies!

Another little thing to love about Asheville

I love living in a place where the local morning news includes which fruits and vegetables can be expected at the farmers market the next weekend. This week: strawberry starts! Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

Poppies!

 
Poppy buds are magical!  I just love them.

Busy busy weekend!

This weekend we did a lot!

On Saturday we went to the farmers market, and among other things got some tomato and herb plants. Yesssss! Then we rode our bikes to West Asheville for Go West, a small street festival.  It was sunny and hot, so we didn't last long.  The music was good, the food was good, and the ice cream cone was good. =]  That night, Chris had to work but I had some friends over for easter egg coloring! Sweet!!  We had a good time and made some fabulous eggs.  None of these friends had ever been over before, and everyone was especially delighted to meet Rocky.

The Easter Egg miracle!  See the bunny?  It sort of looks like a bunny face or a bunny head + ears.

On Sunday, we slept in, had a lovely breakfast of toast with butter and jam, hard boiled easter eggs with s&p, and lattes. Mmmm! Then we went to St. Mathias to watch Brass Knuckles, a bass trumpet jazz band.  Bass trumpet? Who knew?!  After that, we came home and had an awesome dinner of steak, salad, and bread + butter. Yum!  Then, we went to Forsythia Hall to see the Watson Twins.

What a great weekend!

Church House!?

Last night we went to see the Watson Twins at Forsythia Hall.  Forsythia Hall was a church, but a family bought it condemned and fixed it up.  Now they live in it and host shows and weddings in the hall! How cool is that?

The hall is so beautiful.  I could not get over it, so I chatted up the owner, who told me the story of how they came to buy it and renovate it.  Unfortunately, there aren't any good pictures of the place online, and I didn't take any. Dang!  One day I'll get some great pics of the place.  I just LOVED it!!

The Watson Twins!
http://www.thewatsontwins.com/

Oil...

In an attempt to broaden my natural eating habits, I decided to look into a better oil for making granola than the canola oil I had been using. Ugh.  It's not easy figuring this stuff out!  Luckily, I have Josh to help.  He has a website called Tip The Pyramid and he's good at answering all kinds of food questions.  I didn't want to use olive oil in my granola, because even though I know it's healthy, it's still oil made from olives... I mean, come on. So, he suggested coconut oil.

So, I got coconut oil.  Weird!  It's solid, but it melts into a clear liquid that smells like coconuts. Mmmm/Weird! I chose unrefined for optimal health benefits.  Apparently unrefined oils are more nutrient rich than refined.  And I looked for expeller pressed oil, which means chemicals weren't added (I think/hope).  I got some good info about the process of making different oils by reading all the links on the Spectrum website.

I know, it's hard to believe a girl as refined as me could go for an oil as unrefined as this. 

Then, Chris brought home some grape seed oil. Whoa! Way to throw me a curve ball!  I'm having a very hard time finding information about the whole process for making grape seed oil.  Although this is concerning, after reading about grape seed oil on this website, I started to think I should begin drinking the stuff by the gallon.  Apparently it slows the aging of your skin, helps your eye sight, reduces the risk of heart disease, fights free radicals like a mofo, and makes you look great in a cape.  OK, I made that last part up, but the rest is true, according to someone named Joseph. 

It says expeller pressed and pure and all natural. But the question is... is it refined??!

Road Grub

We had a long drive to Miami on Sunday - about 13 hours.  With all that driving ahead of us, we decided we should pack a cooler full of great food to
a) save time by not stopping to eat, and
b) have healthy snacks that would keep up our energy for the drive and taste delicious.

We decided that we would chop up fresh fruits and veggies to munch on, pack the makings for turkey sandwiches, and most fun (for me) make ice coffees and granola bars for breakfast. We were getting up early to get on the road, so I wanted everything to be ready to go the night before.

On Friday I made the granola bars. I loosely followed this recipe from Ina Garten on Food Network.  I made a lot changes, like using more oats, less shredded coconut (I just didn't have more than about a quarter cup), butter and coconut oil, flax seeds instead of wheat germ, a little maple syrup, and didn't really follow the measurements or toasting/baking times.  Hey, they turned out great!

Did I mention I added chocolate chips?  =D

On Saturday, I went grocery shopping for the rest of the cooler food.  The best thing I got?  Lusty Monk Altar Boy Honey Mustard.  This stuff is deeeelicious!  It's dang good, and it's made right here in Asheville! We put it on our turkey sandwiches (Can you see it? Chris driving and me making turkey sandwiches on a paper towel on the center console complete with tomato slices, mayo, and Lusty Monk. So worth the extra effort.), we dipped our cucumber slices in it, we put it on our ham sandwiches for lunch in Miami, and now that I'm back I've just made amazing egg salad with it (and with some relish, s&p, mayo, and chopped up cuke, red pepper, and onion. OMmmmmG.) 

Anyhoo...later that day, I made some really strong coffee in the French press (aka press pot or plunger pot), and poured it into 2 jars.  I also made lots of espresso (3 double shots - which in our machine are almost like triple or quadruple shots) in another jar. I added sugar to all 3 jars while they were hot, then let them cool.  I realized that it was going to be hard to tell them apart, so for fun I made tags for each jar:

Incidentally, the evening I made these drinks was just beautiful.  Here are some pictures from out the apartment windows:

In the morning, just before we left, I took the coffees out of the fridge and added milk.  Mmmmm!

Then I packed the rest of the cooler:

Yummmm!  We had the best car snacks ever!  And boyyyyy were we caffeinated!

We're in Miami!

Chris and I are in Miami visiting our brothers' families.  The weather is warm, the skies are sunny, and ocean is beautiful!

Yesterday we went to the beach for several hours. I couldn't believe how warm the water was.  

Best of all, I didn't get sunburnt! For this fair girl, that says something.  This is the sunscreen I used, and it worked like a dream!  I got a bit of a tan, but no burning whatsoever.  Yay!

Say Nope to Taupe!

I think the word taupe should be banned from use.  What does it do other than cause confusion?  When someone tells me something is the color taupe, I only have more questions about what color it is. They might as well have said, "Well, it isn't sky blue, lime green, or bright red."  What is this? A process of elimination game?!  And when it comes to most items that come in taupe (like suits), I already know that. Now I have to discern weather it's brown-ish, gray-ish, yellow-ish, green-ish, pink-ish, or purple-ish.    Taupe, you better watch out for the suffix ish.  And also, taupe, you can be intimidated by the adjectives faded and muted.  Perhaps taupe should be used only as an adverb (in the adjective of an adjective kind of way).  For example: The taupe green purse.

Ugh. Taupe.  You ambiguous mongrel. 

Did you know that the color-name came from a mole?!  A Talpa europaea:


Wow.  This animal got a color named after it?


From now on, if I need to describe something taupe, I'll say platypus.  To me, the platypus is way more awesome, and the babies look as though they are wearing Crocs on their noses:

Sweet Crocs, little dudes!  I didn't know they came in taupe!

Plus, if I tell someone that something is the color of a platypus, I'm pretty sure they won't get mixed up thinking it is green or blue or pink or yellow.

Here are some readings on the color platypus taupe:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taupe
http://tootsies-kc.blogspot.com/2006/07/what-color-is-taupe-anyway.html

Taleggio and Garrotxa

After reading and writing about cheese, I was on a mission to get some.  At the nearest Whole Foods (aka the best cheese selection I've found so far in Asheville. I wish there was a cheese shop!), I got some help picking out two cheeses.  First, I wanted to try a washed rind, and ended up getting a taleggio. The friendly employee who helped me said it was a good washed rind for a beginner because it's stinky smelling, but not too strong tasting.

Taleggio

I was so excited when it was time to eat it!  I took it out of the fridge an hour early (as directed!) to bring it to room temperature. I made hummus. I cut some fresh bread and toasted it lightly.  I sliced up a pear. I poured myself a glass of wine. I cut into the soft, smooth, delicious stinkiness of the taleggio!  Yummmmm!  I really liked it.  I sat and munched for a long while. Delightful. 

On Sunday, I got a garrotxa, a firm, aged, goat cheese.  

Garrotxa

Chris and I really set up a spread with mango, olives, hummus, toast, salami, wine, and the two cheeses.  Heaven!!  We love a spread. =]

The garrotxa, I felt, I could take or leave.  I think it is probably the perfect match to something out there, but with this spread, it wasn't as tasty as the taleggio.  

Here's a little something funny Murray's has to say about taleggio:

Pungent, fruity and meaty - ripe wheels should eat like pudding… delicious, stinky pudding that goes with wine.

Weird, but I like it!

What's in my wine?!?

A new wine store has opened in Asheville. It's called Vinsite, and it's focused on natural wines.  Here's what they say:

Vinsite is a wine shop focusing on wines that are made as natural as possible.

The wines are biodynamic, organic or at least sustainable in practice. Our intention is to introduce wines that demonstrate a clear sense of place.

We went in and looked around, had a sip of 2 wines, and chatted it up with the owners.  Boy did I learn a lot!  I didn't realize how many chemicals are added to wines! Gross!  Apparently there are 200 or so legal chemicals that can be added to wine for various reasons, including enhancing taste and preservation. 

Chris and I are pretty fanatic about eating natural foods, but I didn't know I needed to be so careful when sipping the vino!  Bummer.  I learned that even "organic wine" only means that the grapes are farmed organically, but after they are harvested, the winemaker can add chemicals. 

One fun aspect of the new store is the enomatic tasting machine.  You can buy a sip, a small pour, or a glass of wines you'd like to taste:

THE WEATHER IS GORGEOUS

I'm in love.      

With the temperature.  

And with Chris, of course. =]

And with the fact that 3 of my friends are preggers!

And with the idea that in less than a week I'll be Miami with my hubby, my 2 adorable nieces
(and future adorable nephew!), my brother and sister-in-law, and my bro-in-law + his future wifey.  Sweet!!
Looking forward to things makes me think of this quote.

But back to the present moment - the temperature 
is 77 degrees, there is a breeze, and 

I'm on the balcony looking at 
a pretty tree. 

Happiness. 

Pinky and the Brain

I love this cartoon! I used to watch it after school along with all the other crazy Anamaniac skits.

One of the best parts of the cartoon is when Brain asks Pinky, "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"  Here are some hilarious clips of Pinky answering Brain's recurrent question:

Some of my favorite Pinky-responses:

I think so, Brain, but...
How are we going to fit 3 flamingos into one pair of capri pants?!
Where are we going to find rubber pants our size?
How will we get the spice girls into the paella?!
Pantyhose are so uncomfortable in the summertime!
Why would anyone want a depressed tongue?!