Cute Garden Things

Being in Portland over the weekend inspired me to do more cute things with my garden. I think it's a prerequisite that you keep a garden or at least have an intense love of foliage to live there.

Observe the apple tree in our front yard:



It has an awkward hole in the front side that has bothered me ever since we moved in. Today I decided the hole would bother me no more. I had a couple lanterns laying around (serving no purpose but to cause clutter) and found some old ribbon from a duvet and seat cushion packaging that I really liked, but could never find a purpose for...the forces combined and now I have lanterns in the dead space of my tree. I find it pretty charming. Now I want to hang stuff from all my trees. Maybe in the back yard I can find a use for the old pots and pans I need to replace...

Five Days of Food

I ran the AFC (America's Finest City) Half Marathon on Sunday--three days ago--and have been using that as an excuse to eat and drink whatever I want for the last 5 days... if you do the math, that's 2 days before the race and 2 days after the race (not including race day)...and I'm still going strong. I wonder how long I'll be able to use, "I'm treating myself to this because I earned it." Eventually it will turn into, "...I earned on Sunday four months ago." That's not really going to work (unless I run a 1/2 marathon every weekend--which I may consider).

In any case, I'v eaten some reeeeeeally good food the last five days starting with the Barona Indian Casino Buffet. I know what you're thinking. Buffet? Ew. I thought the same thing... buffets=diarrhea. You're just going to have to trust me that I won't steer you wrong here. We plan to go back soon and this time I won't be as distracted by the crepe, exotic cheese, and mongolian bbq stations as I was this time, so I'll have some pictures for you. Since I don't have any pictures, let's move on to Alexander's the next night (Saturday night, the day before AFC).

Observe our pre-pasta appetizer: Melty Brie with a whole clove of roasted garlic. (Also note I got so excited to squish the garlic out of the clove that I forgot to take a picture when it was still all pretty...oops.) A word of caution about this dish: should you eat it and have a significant other that you plan on being around for the next two days, you need to do the following every hour: brush teeth, use mouthwash, chew gum, and spray perfume/cologne on self consistently. You will stink for at least two days as you leak garlic from every pore. But it's so worth it.


Moving on to the next night (Monday) after the race. It was a friend's birthday, so he wanted to try a new restaurant that opened in Little Italy called Craft and Commerce. They're motto is, "Demandless." And while their menu is a single page with only 3 entrees, they don't seem to expect their patrons to demandless from the bar. (The drink menu is three pages.)

Quick background on the joint: There are two other trendy-hipstery-I'm-to-cool-for-my-own-self places downtown. One is called The Neighborhood and the other is El Dorado (I'll probably write about them at some point). Anyway, somehow these three places are connected through the owners and, as far as I can tell, Craft and Commerce is the hybrid-love-child of the first two. The food, for example, is like The Neighborhood, but instead of fancy PB & J or jalapeno mac & cheese, you get hot dogs that look like this:



And the drinks are like El Dorado with their "craftiness" and the New York-drink-mix-master-guru that was flown in to create avant garde cocktails for both these establishments. Observe the birthday boy finishing off what was Craft Drink #1: Mother's Ruin. (I picked it out for him...that's not in poor taste is it??)



Yes, that is a bowl of alcohol and yes I just about wet myself when I found out it is served in a tea cup. (I had an Alice in Wonderland party earlier this year and I served cocktails out of tea pots...so, I nearly bounced myself out of my chair and onto the floor when they brought out the bowl of booze and ladled it into tea cups for everyone.)

Mother's Ruin: gin, spiced black tea infused vermouth, lemon, grapefruit, champagne.

Craft Drink #2: The Eulogy. The name says everything.

The Eulogy: gin, bianco vermouth creme de viollete, absinthe.

I should also mention, that if you're a beer person, they serve craft beer from nearly all 30 of the local San Diego breweries. So the drinks are amazing and the food is too, but you might be wondering if I ordered and ate those hot dogs. Nope. Those weren't mine, I don't eat meat from restaurants (remember?). But I heard they were amazing, and supposedly Craft and Commerce buys from local farmers and butchers. I need to look a little more closely at this rumor...and I would have asked the owner last night... but, well, you saw those drinks...

I could go on and on about how we went to Extraordinary Desserts after and pigged out on french goodies, or how amazing the breakfast burrito I've been eating (in shifts) all day today has been, but I'll spare you. For now.

Until next time:

Alexander's is in North Park at 3391 30th Street. 619.281.2539
Craft and Commerce is in Little Italy at 675 W. Beech Street. 619.269.2202

Running is my Happy Hour...

...but I also really like happy hours with booze involved too. And, the happy hour week begins tomorrow.

My favorite one of the moment is C Level Lounge in Island Prime Restaurant on Harbor Island Drive. The patio is literally on the water (you can practically touch the huge yachts and sail boats that glide by) and the view includes the downtown skyline -- with all it's embarcaderoness, the Coronado bridge and military base -- directly across the water, and all the way over to the lighthouse on the tip of Point Loma. The view is good, but the happy hour menu is what keeps me coming back (...even though I'm on summer break and don't really have an excuse for happy hours).

All food and drinks on the happy hour menu are $5 each. These are my favorites:

Fried Calamari: They're almost too cute to eat sometimes... but they're too good not to.

Sangria*: Housemade sangria with blackberry brandy & grand marnier. omg.

The Scallywag*: Plymouth gin, lemongrass extract, fresh lime & soda. omg. omg. omg.

*Be careful with these. You'll drink them like soda and then end up napping for hours when you get home. No more than two per person if you want to function afterward.

C Level Lounge, Island Prime Restaurant

880 Harbor Island Drive

Fall Garden & Tortilla Soup

In about three days we'll be halfway through summer, which means it's time to start planning for fall by ordering seeds, planting them and then giving them motivational speeches in the mornings and evenings.

Our adorable, elderly Danish neighbor leaves us tomatoes from her garden about once a week. She sets them by our front gate instead of coming to the door and I can't help but wonder why she doesn't just come to the door. Maybe she overheard me talking to my lettuce once and misunderstood why I cried, "Come on you little bitch"... or she could have seen me hunting fruit flies through the patio window...in which case I'm surprised she even ventures to the gate. Either way, she brings us food from her garden--and it's fantastic. I made tortilla soup last week with the tomatoes she brought. (See recipe below.) But yesterday, instead of tomatoes she left a newspaper clipping about what to start planting for a fall harvest. Thought you might be interested, so here it is in a nutshell.

Planting Guide for August: Fall Vegetables
After the middle of the month you can plant seeds for the following vegetables:

Beets
Cabbage
Carrots
Collards
Kale
Lettuce
Peas
Radishes
Spinach
Swiss chard
Turnips

And, even though it's not on the list, I'm going to try (again) some bok choy. My last batch was trampled by a rogue puppy we fostered for a week... I chose my garden over the dog... let's just hope when I have kids they don't tear up any of my plants.

Tortilla Soup Recipe

Dump the following in a crockpot and cook on high for 4-6 hours. For best flavor, saute the onions, cabbage and garlic in olive oil until soft before putting into the crockpot.
(FYI: All the "1 cups" below are actually a little less than a cup. Or a little more if you want it to be. Just use whatever you have.)

1-2 ear of corn (cut off the kernels)
1-2 cloves chopped garlic
1 c diced red potatoes
1 c black beans
As much chopped cabbage as you want it-- cooks WAY down (I think I use about a half a head)
1 c diced tomatoes
1/2 c diced carrots
1/2 c onion
1-2 small cans of diced chiles
1 packet of taco seasoning
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Cover with chicken or vegetable broth (4-5 cups?)

Once everything is soft and simmery... serve with fresh avocado, cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream on top. Or none of that and it will still be really good.

*One thing you'll probably learn about me, as I post more recipes, is that I'm not meticulous about portions and amounts and making sure I do it the same every time. Sorry if you like to know how many teaspoons of salt and pepper to add...you won't find out from me. I don't believe in tsp's of any kind.

Garden Questions

Question #1: Who the cuss is putting mushrooms in my newest veggie box while I'm asleep at night?

Question #2: Why are the tomato leaves curling? Is that bad or just the way they're wearing them these days? 

Question #3: I want to eat this lettuce, but I love seeing how much it grows day by day. How long can I indulge in this entertainment

before A.) the lettuce is no good to eat anymore and B.) I just get sick of staring at it all day. 

Do you know the answer to any of these questions?

Wasp vs. Caterpillar

Never thought I'd be standing in my yard cheering for a wasp, but that is what I was doing less than five minutes ago when this wrestling match of the century unfolded before my eyes atop an eggplant. It was beautiful.



Wasps: 1
Caterpillars: 0

The Marie Antoinette

Pearl Plum Vodka, Champagne, Lavender Syrup, Grapefruit.

I was intrigued by the name, then curious about plum vodka and last hypnotized by the idea of lavender syrup.
Then I drank it. It's like a unicorn peed magic fairy tales into a glass.

$10 at The Pearl Hotel, 1410 Rosecrans Street
Happy Hour 'till 7pm: $3 beers, $5 well drinks.

Cute Garden Things

Not sure what to do with that boring, lackluster, dead-air space above your yard? Put up a clothesline. This is an economical way to add color, diversity and an eclectic touch to your garden.





And, long garments such as towels, jeans and sheets can help camouflage any dead grass that may be on the other side (we are on water rations after all). As Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing."

Fruit Fly Slayer

Once a summer I turn into a (self-proclaimed) "slayer." Usually it's a personal vendetta I fulfill against the fruit flies that attempt a hostile takeover of my kitchen. What this actually plays out as is me stalking around the house with lotiony hands grabbing flies out of the air and crushing them (I find the lotion makes it harder for them to sneak out between my fingers). If an outside observer were to stumble upon me in such a state, they might fear for their life... I imagine the 911 call going something like,

Operator: "911, what's your emergency?"

Concerned Neighbor: "Yea...I heard some commotion at my neighbor's house so I came to see if everything's OK...and...and oh...my..."

Operator: "Sir what do you see?"

Concerned Neighbor: "I'm looking through the kitchen window. She is running around the house. She's...kind of hunched over and her hands... they look like claws and are covered in something white. She's smiling or...no...no...she's baring her teeth like a wild animal and frantically swiping at the air... so many swear words... good Lord I didn't know eyes could open that wide."

Operator: "Sir, you need to slowly back away from the window. No sudden movements. Someone will be there shortly."

Concerned Neighbor: "Something smells like cocoa butter..."

And while the fruit flies are well on their way to a bad end, I have bigger bug problems at the moment: Caterpillars. It's one thing to cuss with my basil, but it's a whole other issue when you start eating the petals off my cussing daisies. Just look at this mess. Poor innocent little flowers. They were so happy only two days ago...and now look at them. It looks like they were cast in a Tim Burton film.





How do I know it's a caterpillar? Two ways:

1.) I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar when I was child. I saw the f'ing holes it ate through those pages. Daisy petals don't stand a chance.

2.) I caught one of the bastards with her head buried in a newly ripened strawberry. And a couple days before that I found one going to town at the top of a basil sprig.

Now, growing up on a ranch I learned how to study and recognize tracks-- a skill I knew I'd put to noble use one day. Therefore, I know a caterpillar is the culprit in my daisy situation because I studied their bite patterns on the aforementioned basil and strawberries after I made the following public proclamation:

"Attention all hungry Caterpillars: From this day forward should you be caught within dining distance of any and all fruits, vegetables, seedlings and botanicals, an immediate and swift execution is the best you can hope for. Your cuteness affords you zero protection in this garden."

Then, I sprayed everything down with soapy water...that usually does the trick.




And if not?
The hunt. is. on.

Cucumber Basil Martini

The Westgate Hotel on 2nd Avenue, downtown, just made a new, fun drink menu. Go on a Saturday night to catch Gregory Page and the Make Believe Orchestra (9:00-midnight) in the Plaza Bar. Quite swanky.

Cucumber Basil Martini: Vox vodka, fresh basil, cucumber, ginger and nutmeg.

Also good:

Gin's Cup: Bombay gin, homemade ginger syrup, fresh lemon juice, orange, cucumber, cinnamon and soda. (Take the straw out and drink straight from the cup so you can smell the cinnamon as you sip.)

Horse's Neck: Knob Creek bourbon, house made bitters, house made gingerale.

Cute Garden Things

When my sister and I were little, we used to sit with my Grandma Isabel in her garden (she has the most amazing garden) and paint rocks into ladybugs. I made some yesterday and thought about how much I love her. (I'm hoping that putting them in my basil planter will make the little f'ers who are destroying it cry, "Holy shit! I'm out of here! Monster ladybugs!!!")


I also painted some row markers for my newest planter box.