I'll be damned if I'll let the herb garden defeat me

Remember when I planted herbs in my kitchen window? And how excited I was when they sprouted? And then how they just sort of peeked out and then croaked?

Now that summer's here, I decided to try an herb garden outdoors, in a container. I also decided I may have better luck purchasing a plant that's already growing and then trying to maintain. I found two hardy plants, basil and parsley, at Wal-Mart when I took my grandma there. Yesterday, I picked up a not-too-healthy looking green onion (that's it on the left, lookin' sorta brown and scrawny) and an oregano from a local nursery.

Here they are all snug in their planter. I stuck it near the grass so that the sprinklers would water it for me. Isn't that genius! Now I don't have to do anything at all except tear off their little leaves and munch them.



Actually, I do have the problem of protecting them from the particularly harsh New Mexico sun, so I stuck them under this bush where they will get plenty of light during the afternoon and evening but not all day long. I wish I could have it the other way, with most of their exposure in the morning. I may have to keep an eye on them and adjust their location.

Tuna thingies

In my last post, I talked about making creme fraiche so that I could make these tuna thingies.

The recipe appears at the bottom. First, combine ingredients.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.



This is where you think, "What have I done? This is not healthy."


Double Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I won't tell you what this reminded me of. OK, bloody barf. That's what. Sorry.




Grease muffin tins. I am lazy and use this stuff.



Bake.



Eat with some salad to make yourself feel better about all the cream, eggs and cheese you are eating.




Starve because you limited yourself to only two, and they are not very big.

They tasted good. That's about all I can say. Not really worth the trouble, but good.


Here is the recipe for bouchons au thon (French for "little tuna muffin things")

6 oz canned tuna, drained
1 C grated Gruyere cheese
1/3 C creme fraiche
3 T tomato paste
1/4 C chopped yellow onion
leaves from 2-3 sprigs flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/4 t salt

mix everything up, put in greased muffin tins (makes 8), bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes or until tops and edges are set. Will collapse a bit as they cool. May freeze for a month after cooling.

per serving of two:
235 calories, 23 g protein, 14 g fat (!!!!)

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I used parsley from my herb garden for that recipe. It's the first time I've used anything from my herb garden, partially because most of it's dead, and the rest is confused.





My parsley is OK, but the green onion died. So did the basil. The oregano died before, but came back to life, with some green onion next to it. I do not know how that green onion got there.

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I received some vintage sheets from New Zealand thanks to the vintage sheet swap on flickr. I can't wait to get started on the Nine Pillowcase Quilt once the pattern is available.



This will add some color to my current collection of vintage sheets

Little sprouts

I did it! I grew something from seeds! My herb garden has sprouted -- all of the plants. They are tiny -- the last one to sprout is nearly invisible to the naked eye.




The oregano needs a close-up to be able to see it at all. It's kind of in the dark spot, one tiny little green dot:



By the way, on an unrelated note, when playing 20 Questions, "oregano" is a word that really makes the other person mad. I guess it's too random.

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I started my quilting class Thursday and I think I'm really going to enjoy this. We learned to use our rotary cutters and the importance of preciseness. We will be making pot holders first, then move on to a few place mats and finally a table runner. Here is a pile of fabric for my place mats. I'll be making kitty mats for my cats' dishes. They are piggies when they eat.



I really like the cat fabrics, but I really couldn't figure a reason to use them. This will work out nicely.

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I have another garment on my to-do list. It's McCall's 5803, the ruffled sleeveless top. I had already fallen in love with this daisy/Eiffel tower fabric, so I decided that's what I would use. Now I just need some time to sew.

Photosynthesis, baby, photosynthesis

I have decided to plant an indoor herb garden. I have been cooking more, and I thought it would be nice to just grab a leaf or two when I need something rather than going to the store and buying a package that has way too much of whatever I need.

The thing is, I have never grown anything from seeds before. I planted them and placed them in my kitchen windows, behind the sink. I hope that in the mornings, they will get lots of sun, but I don't really see much of mornings with my sleep schedule, so I can't be sure.




I also decided to replant a few other house plants so they will have fresh soil. I tend to neglect my plants a little. Suddenly, I remembered a plant I had stuck on top of the kitchen cabinets when I painted months ago. It's the long droopy one in the middle below. I felt so sorry for it. Actually, I felt like the time my brother had a hamster named Tiny Elvis and he forgot about it. He had put its cage in a back room because it was noisy at night. One afternoon, we were snacking in the kitchen and he looked up with big eyes and said, "OH NO! Tiny Elvis!!!" We ran into the back room, expecting the worst. Tiny Elvis had busted out. Oh my God. It makes me sick to think of him suffering in there -- and it was not my fault. He was my brother's pet and I had no idea he was being neglected. I still dream that he is living in a palace inside the walls of that house. OK, actually, that house was torn down. Anyway, never saw him again. I guess a plant is a little different, but I still see them as having feelings. I can never discard a plant until it's completely dead. One green leaf, and it stays.



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I have been really busy lately, but I can't really say what I've been doing. I haven't been sewing much. I have been knitting, but not completing much. I'm almost done with my Liesel scarf, which is taking an eternity despite the pattern saying it can be completed in less than a day. I'm still working on my Soldier's Sweater from "Runway Knits." I'm halfway done with sleeve No. 1. Then I do sleeve 2 and sew them on. Then I just have to knit a band all the way around the front and neck. I'll be glad to get that one done.

Here is something nobody else will appreciate. A tin of buttons. When I was a kid, my mom had a jar of buttons in the sewing room, and I loved it. So I had a jar of buttons when I grew up. I save all the extra buttons that come with clothes. The other day, I put them in this tin. Now they are even more appealing to me. I can see and touch them better.



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I found out I am extremely vitamin D deficient. My doctor gave me super strength vitamin D pills to take once a week for 15 weeks. I can't understand how a fair-skinned person living in one of the sunniest places on earth can become vitamin D deficient. I need to get outside more, but it's cold, and so when I do I'm pretty much completely covered except for the face. Waiting impatiently for spring.

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I got myself this handy and cute little key ring crochet hook from 5elementknitr on Etsy. You know, you take your knitting with you some place and then drop a stitch and don't have a crochet hook to fix it. NIGHTMARE. But with this, you'll always have one on hand.



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I wish I could find a way to learn about photography -- just enough to take decent pictures for my blog. I'm afraid that any class I find will expect me to have some fancy expensive camera. I'd just like to know how to work better with my not-so-fancy camera. My pictures are badly framed and lighted. My camera seems to have two options: no flash or extremely bright flash. Any ideas?