When we have a car we can...

Go camping
Visit Nashville!
Visit Greenville
Visit home
Eat pizza at Marcos
Eat pizza at Ritrovo Update:  We hate this place.
Hangout in West Asheville (but we should bike there)
Dine in Biltmore Village
Buy watermelons
Go to box stores (for better or worse...)
Buy big pots and soil
Drive to work (my work!)
Go hiking
Listen to music on the radio (and NPR of course!)
Rock bumper stickers
Go to IKEA
Explore!!!!

Hooray Produce!

I feel so lucky to have the nearby "Fresh Quarter" produce market. The last 2 times I've gone, I've gotten amazing peaches!  I'm so excited that summer produce is coming into season.

Also, tomatoes are getting better and better! Yessss.  I love me a good tomato!

PS: Some little tomatoes are growing in the balcony garden!  Yippeee!!  =]

Hello, Summer. I love you.

tomatoes are getting better and better!

lettuce and basil from the mini garden =]

lovely sunsets

Tomato Pie

 I looooooooove tomato pie.  I learned the recipe listening to All Things Considered on NPR a couple of years ago. Story. Recipe.  Oh man it is sooo good.  I made one yesterday (I know, I know, tomatoes stink right now, but I couldn't wait!  Once I have tomato pie on the brain, I gotta have it!).

When Katie was here, we made a mushroom tomato pie.  It was to. die. for.  It was basically the same recipe, but I made the pie 2 layers: A layer of sauteed mushrooms and onions (with white wine, garlic, and some other ingredients to jazz it up), and the original tomato layer (tomatoes, basil, sweet onion, s&p).  Yummmm.

The question is:  Is tomato pie better than pizza?  Gasp!

Sage!

from the balcony garden!

Close up! Looking good, sage. Real good.

*Photography by Chris

Roses and Honeysuckle

Glorious spring!  As I went for a jog today (Gasp! Yes, a jog! After months of slothery [a new and wonderful-if-I-do-say-so-myself word I just made up] I jogged!) I noticed so many lovely rose bushes, and  saw and smelled honeysuckle.  Oh how sweet and pungent is the aroma of honeysuckle!  It really brought me back to my youth - the youth before this adulthood youth - when Tootie and I used to pick honeysuckle in her backyard and sip the syrupy sap.

 

To my horror, while looking up "honeysuckle sap" (to ensure proper vocabulary), an e-how website called Eradicating Honeysuckle was high up in the results list! Astonishing! Dismaying!  I don't know what it means to be mayed, but I felt dis that when I saw the article. Behold this jolting quote from the article: "What children don't understand is that honeysuckle vine (Lonicera spp.) has become an invasive and damaging exotic weed in North America."

On a lighter note, seeing the rose bushes reminded me of my walk to school when I worked in Alameda, CA.  The school's neighborhood was chock full of houses with beautiful yards and gardens, many of which bloomed with beautiful roses.  I think the climate in Alameda must be perfect for rose bushes, because I have never seen so many in one place.  They were absolutely gorgeous, and seeing them really made my mornings and afternoons. 

To my horror, while looking up "Alameda rose" (in an attempt to find some charming examples), Google Images returned results of casket after casket!  Shock!  Apparently "Alameda rose" is a funereal wood choice! Upon my word!   See for yourself! 

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.

Lightening up for Spring!

This past weekend I rearranged the living room furniture and made some Spring-y decorations.  I used fun paper (designs with purples, navy, greens, and silver) and my heart paper-punch to make a garland to hang from the columns between the living room and dining room.  I also used fun paper (blues, blue-greens, greens, gold, and a bit of feathery flowery white) to make a hanging decoration above the mantle.  My parents gave me a sweet circle cutter for Christmas,so it is easy as pie to cut out perfect circles now!

I also through a cute quilt over the black couch to lighten things up, and put the new baby plants (we got lettuce, broccoli, and onion starters) on the window sill near the big green plant.   Our living room is so cute and cozy in Winter, it took some extra effort to lighten it up for Spring.  It was worth it. I love the new look!

PS: You can see Chris's awesome new bike in the pic!  It is 70's model Schwinn!

Tomatoes!

I LOVE tomatoes.  I'm hoping to grow some out on the balcony this summer.  I really haven't eaten any lately because they haven't been in season, but this morning at the produce market I decided to get a few romas, even if they weren't all that fabulous.

When I got home, I sliced some pieces of fresh bread I had just gotten at the bakery, spread some mayo on, pilled on sliced tomatoes sprinkled with salt and pepper, and topped it all off with a fried egg. OMG.  Delish.

So Simple. So wonderful.


PS: Chris added hummus to his, which was also awfully tasty.

Strawberry Pot Obsession

So, I want to start an edible garden out on our balcony.  I don't really have any gardening experience, but I have high hopes for a summer full of home grown and pampered tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, herbs, and... strawberries!!  I have become VERY excited about the idea of growing strawberries.  While doing some research on gardening in small spaces, I fortunately - or unfortunately? - came across something I hadn't known to exist before: a strawberry pot.   *New obsession!*    First of all, the name is adorable. And sometimes it's called a strawberry jar - equally pleasing to the ear.  Secondly, the idea that there is a special type of pot just for growing strawberries is very appealing to me for some reason.  Thirdly (is tertiarily a word? because I'd prefer it. ), each strawberry plant gets it's own little cubby and you can grow something else in the top. Fourthly, the pots are really cute:

  








BUT THEN...

earlier today Chris and I were out on the balcony and noticed a neighbor's balcony has a pole with a hook on it for a hanging plant.   AND THEN... I found this while Google imaging "strawberry pot":

Oh no!!  New obsession??  This would work much better for the strawberry plant (that we can all assume will exist with 85% confidence), as we already have some major sunlight issues on the balcony, and proper placement of a hanging basket would ensure at least one more hour of sunshine per day. And it's so cute.

Dilemma to be continued...