State of the garden – 2011 vs 2012

So somehow last summer I missed posting this, so instead of a garden update from last year, I’m changing it to a comparison of this year vs last year, almost exactly to the day too.

Christmas cactus and unidentified succulent. 2011

2012

I really thought the Christmas cactus was a goner after last year but it is doing well.

Tomatoes 2011.

The tomatoes mostly failed last year, except for one plant that produced about 4 tomatoes.

Spinach. Didn’t last very long, not even long enough to make a proper salad. Not attempting this year.

Cilantro 2011- died shortly after this was taken. No attempts this year.

Jalapeno plant 2011. Got infested with some bugs and I didn’t want the infestation to spread to my other stuff so I threw it out. Didn’t buy another this year.

2011. Grew basil from seed. Had way too much until it started to get that chemical-y smell and I tossed it all out. This year I bought a plant instead.

Prayer plant 2011. I didn’t think it was going to make it but it rallied in the past year.

2012

Flapjack 2011. RIP.

Chives 2011. Still kicking it this year.

Lettuce 2011. Died shortly after. Like the spinach, barely enough to make a proper salad.

Italy 4th Stop: Catanzaro – In Italy You’re Always With Friends

This is FINALLY my last post about Italy.

On the last few days of our Italian adventure, we hung with Cherrye and Peppe’s friends and suddenly it was just like they were our friends too. We went out for pizza to their favorite pizza place.

Then went to a bar for limoncello and gelato.

One night, we learned how to make homemade limoncello. Remember this lemon tree?

Cherrye was all prepared by pre-soaking the lemon rinds, so it would be ready for us to drink.

Here’s an action shot of us pouring and straining.

Peppe taught us how to make risotto then we st down to enjoy 1 Euro wine. Later, some of Cherrye and Peppe’s friends joined us for limoncello before we had to start packing up.

The next morning we hit the road and said goodbye to Cherrye, Peppe, and Max,  thanking them for being such wonderful hosts and friends.

And with that, we said arrivederci to Italy.

Mutant tomato plant and patio garden update

So this is my mutant cherry tomato plant.

You might recall, it looked like this just about 3 weeks ago.

And now it’s grown to about 5 feet wide and almost 4 feet tall. You can barely see the other tomato plant to the left, since the mutant is clearly overshadowing it. Thank goodness I had an old, holey pair of tights in my drawer. I’ve been using strips of tights to tie the branches of the plant up, since a regular cage won’t work in my planter box.

Here’s what the mutant looks like from the parking lot.

The first bunch of cherry tomatoes is starting to turn, and there are at least 10 more bunches. I can’t wait to eat fresh, home-grown cherry tomatoes this summer.

The only other things of note in my patio garden are the beans. I had high hopes for my green beans, but after picking about 10 beans, the plants had enough of the heat and promptly began a slow death. (Note to self, start earlier next year.)

The snap peas still give me a tiny glimmer of hope since they keep growing taller and taller, but there haven’t been any blooms, so I’ll just keep waiting, likely until they die.

I don’t have a picture, but the basil, chives and rosemary are doing great. The onions are doing fine, but still have a long way to go.

And last, the giant peace lily that I always keep in the dark corner of the patio is doing really awesome this year and has put out almost 10 blooms so far.

 

Italy 4th Stop: Catanzaro – Pizzo

The coolest thing about Southern Italy is that there are so many places to visit within a few minutes, to a couple of hours driving. So our next day trip took us to Pizzo.

Another cool thing about Southern Italy, is that almost everything is on the coast, so you get beautiful views almost everywhere you go!

For our first stop in Pizzo, Cherrye brought us to the Chiesa di Piedigrotta.

According to legend, some sailors were caught in a very bad storm and thought they’d all die. So they prayed to the Madonna, that if their lives were spared, they’d build her a shrine. So they washed up on this beach, climbed into this cave and began building a shrine to the Madonna.

Over many years, artists have come come to add to the shrine, and there are many aging, yet beautiful, sculptures and frescoes that give thanks to the Madonna.

A trip to Pizzo is not complete without trying the famous Tartufo di Pizzo. To call it just ice cream would be a sin, as Tartufo is so much more. To find it you go into downtown Pizzo and stop at almost any restaurant. Many of them claim to have created the Tartufo.

Make your own taste test contest by trying several places. But anyway, to the Tartufo. Tartufo means truffle, and the traditional tartufo is chocolate and hazelnut ice cream, with a liquid chocolate center, rolled in cocoa powder.

We also tried a white chocolate version that was equally delicious.

After your tartufo. You might want to walk off a few calories, and Pizzo has plenty of breathtaking views.

This is the Murat Castle. We couldn’t go inside the day we visited, but after seeing Murat, during our trip we saw 3 of Cherrye’s 5 favorite fortresses in Calabria.

No trip with girlfriends is complete without a (mostly complete) group photo!

I’ve got one more post about Italian hospitality before we wrap up, so I hope you don’t miss it.

Italy 4th Stop: Catanzaro – Le Castella and Roccelletta

On our 4th stop in Italy, we stayed in Catanzaro, home of my friends Cherrye and Peppe, for a few days. (Unsolicited plug here: Cherrye and Peppe have a fantastic B&B, Il Cedro, so if you ever find yourself in Italy, do yourself a favor and go visit them. Cherrye also has started doing ancestry tours, vacation planning, and so much more through her company My Bella Vita, so she’s been brushing up on her Southern Italy history. Much of this trip was only possible due to her expertise, so I’ll include some links to her posts about them if you’re interested in learning more.)

One of our day trips took us to Le Castella. From afar, this looks like a giant sand castle. It dates back to the Homer/Odyssey/Mythology/BC times. It’s pretty cool to possibly be standing some place so old.

The same day trip also took us to the ruins at Roccelletta. These ruins have both Greek and Roman history. Although some may say have been ruined (heh!) by the installation of some modern art pieces throughout the ruins.

And before I continue my recapping, a gratuitous shot of a lemon tree. No wonder, limoncello is such a popular thing in Italy!

Thai green curry shrimp

Yesterday I made  Thai Green Curry Coconut Shrimp with Basil from Skinnytaste.com. It was so good I wanted to eat it all in one sitting.

Since I can’t leave well enough alone, I did things slightly different from the recipe, but nothing crazy.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp oil
• 4 small scallions, whites and greens separated, chopped (I used 6 green onions, because when I compared to the picture, it didn’t seem like what I had was enough)
• 1 tbsp Thai green curry paste (or more to taste) (I ended up using two tablespoons, but didn’t add the second until after I added the coconut milk and tasted everything)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (I used two tablespoons of dried minced garlic, reconstituted with a few tablespoons of warm water)
• 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (from 1 1/4 lbs unpeeled)
• 6 oz light coconut milk
• 2 tsp Thai fish sauce
• 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped (I just used about 8 big basil leaves)
• salt to taste (I didn’t add any salt and the taste was just fine)

Directions:

1. Heat the oil on medium high heat. Add green onion whites and curry paste and cook for one minute. (It’s ok if you accidentally add the garlic here too, just make sure it doesn’t burn.
2. Add shrimp and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add coconut milk, fish sauce and simmer 2-3 minutes making sure the shrimp is fully cooked. (Taste the sauce at this point to decide if you want to add more curry paste. I added 1 extra tablespoon here, when the original 1 tablespoon wasn’t enough.)
4. Remove from heat and add green onion greens and basil then serve over rice. (This is also good to eat without rice as a sort of soup.)

This was my second time making Thai Curry, and it was absolutely delicious. I will definitely do this again.

All about Italy

Ok, so you probably forgot that I went to Italy last year, but I did. And I’m just now finally wrapping up all my posts about it, almost a year later. That’s what I get for being lazy and just not getting around to writing about my trip having so much fun in Italy and taking so many pictures that I have a hard time choosing which ones to show you.

Here are all my posts on Italy if you’d like to catch up from the beginning. I’ll update this post when I finish everything (I think I have two or three more left) so anyone interested in a trip to Italy can find everything in one place. If you have any questions about anything, let me know.

Staying in touch on your overseas vacation

Italy: Almost there, our Amsterdam layover

Italy: First stop, Rome Part 1

Italy: First stop, Rome Part 2

Italy First stop: Rome Part 3

Italy Second stop: Florence

Italy Third Stop: Scalea

Italy Third Stop: Scalea – Adventures

Italy Third Stop: Scalea – Adventures Part 2

Italy: A Public Service Announcement

Italian Cooking Lesson

Italy 4th Stop: Catanzaro – Pizzo

Italy 4th Stop: Catanzaro – Le Castella and Roccelletta

Italy 4th Stop: Catanzaro – In Italy You’re Always With Friends