The Rodents Return

I've not been shy about my feelings regarding squirrels, especially when it comes to my garden. I'm sure some of my issues can be blamed on rabbits and birds, but I chosse to place responsibility squarely on squirrel shoulders. (We will ignore the fact that my open compost pile likely feeds every little bastard for a three mile radius, thus attracting them to my yard. I'm very, very good at selective blame placement) Wonderpup tries to help by throwing himself against my sliding glass door when he sees one in the yard, but the urban renegades know he can't get them and I swear they just hang out and give him the finger. Poor puppy.

Anyway, now that I have plants in the ground, my obsessive garden checking has kicked in. I went outside this morning to admire my plants and found this...

Not a bite was nibbled, the culprit just yanked my baby chard from its new home and carelessly tossed it on the ground out of spite. Jerk.

Fiddleheads and Melrose

Apparently playing in the garden did inspire me to get my sorry butt back into the kitchen, but it didn't deter me from trashy television. I'd forgotten I had some fiddleheads in the fridge. Typically I have them cooked on a fire/grill in a foil pouch, but I thought I'd try something different. A quick google for inspiration later and I was set to make a tomato-fiddlehead pasta with balsamic vinegar.

I started with my basic tomato pasta sauce base - onion, garlic, salt, pepper, oil and canned tomatoes. I was shocked to discover that I had not one single can of diced tomatoes in the house.

I've seriously neglected my pantry stocking as of late, guess it's time to get back on track. I did have whole plum tomatoes though, and I think they actually worked out better than what I'd originally envisioned.

I let the tomatoes, etc. cook down while the pasta water boiled. Then I added some balsamic, the fiddleheads and finished with a healthy dose of parmesan. A quick toss of pasta and I settled onto the couch with a springy, healthy dinner and blew through a few episodes of the ultimate early 90s smut-fest, Melrose Place. I just discovered the WHOLE series is streaming on Netflix. Yikes.

Well, the biblical rains ceased long enough today for me to get a little bit of yard work done and get a start on the garden. One thing I've learned about my new reel mower is that while it does a great job on grass and violets (sad...) it doesn't do much for dandelions. The little bastards just bend and pop back up. So the yard still doesn't look perfect, but it's better.

I hit up the Menands farmers' market this morning and now have a row of chard and some eggplant in the raised bed. It'll be my first attempt at either of these. I also got part of the herb garden in - basil and cilantro. I'm most excited for that, I've so missed just walking out my back door and snipping a fistful of fresh herbs right out of the garden. The rosemary I moved from the garden into a pot has survived, so I guess now I just have to decide if it should go back in the ground for the summer or if I should leave well enough alone.

I'm really hoping all this gardening inspires me to cook. At the moment all it's done is inspire me to wait out the next impending storm on the couch with some trash tv.

Thanks Yelp!

On Friday night I spent some time with someone very dear to me and we decided to head across the river to a place that's very dear to me - Troy. The four years I spent in Troy were formative, as college is for most people. I started on my path there shy, insecure, and just desperate to find my own way. I left a much stronger, more independent person and I always get a smile on my face when I think about my time as a denizen of the Collar City. Troy's come a long way since I moved out ten (gasp) years ago and I don't visit nearly enough.

So we headed across the river without a plan and were debating dinner options when it struck me that I should turn to Yelp. I always have a list of places I want to try, and when push comes to shove, I forget my list. Thanks to my handy app, I was reminded of Carmen's, which I remembered other local folks raving about, so we headed there.

I didn't think to sneak any pictures as I was wrapped up in the food, company and sangria, but I love this place! We had a truly spectacular cheese plate that was clearly selected with great care, a range of tapas (including the best fried plantains I've had in a long time) and a generous helping of sangria. I went for the spicy, which was pitch perfect. Complex, refreshing and interesting - certainly not cheap red wine with some fruit tossed in. We were sitting at the bar and had the pleasure of chatting with staff and the proprietors, lovely people all, and sampled the other sangria varieties - a dry red and a white - that were also fantastic. It was just one of those nights where we very much needed to stumble on a little bit of magic and that is exactly what we did.

Burnin' down the house...

A while back I bought a roast at Ryan's Farmer's Market. They're now stocking reasonably-priced grass fed beef and I thought I'd give it a try. I took it out of the freezer with plans to cook it this weekend, and just never did. It's now Tuesday and I am facing letting my still not cheap piece of meat go bad. I have a thing with that - it doesn't matter how long a food product can actually sit, once I get it in my head it's even a moment too long, I can't bring myself to touch it.

So, I came home from work exhausted after a long day and a poor night's sleep to face the roast and it was pushing 7 when I crossed the threshold. Sigh. Still, I felt I had no choice. A quick sear in the cast iron pan while the oven was preheating, a simple rub of salt and pepper and a bed of onions, garlic and a sprinkle of parsley on top and I was good to go.

Then I made myself a turkey sandwich for dinner. No way I can wait for that roast!

Here's hoping I can keep my eyes open for the next few hours and not end up with a charred mess, or worse. What a single girl is going to do with six pounds of beef is a problem for another day...

Ramping up dinner

Tee hee hee ... bad, I know.

Tonight I am trying my first attempt at ramps. As far as I know, I've only had them once before at a restaurant, but I was intrigued, and then saddened to learn how brief the season is. I just never got around to buying any last spring. I grabbed some at the Troy Farmers' Market this past week on my way to see Tern Rounders and others play a great little outdoor acoustic event. (That was for you JK!)

You can saute the bulbs like garlic or onion and then use the greens. I did both for this particular dish, but only used a few bulbs as I was unsure of how pungent they are. Olive oil, ramps and tomato, tossed in angel hair - this meal quite literally took me 10 minutes to prepare and I was drafting this post while cooking.

All in all, it was a good dish - light, simple, yet with a nice twist of something special. I am glad I didn't use all the bulbs for a single portion, but maybe I could have used one or two more.

I think ramps, like garlic scapes, will be one of those early season treats I look forward to each year.

For all the lounging, dog park visiting and hangover nursing I did this weekend, I actually managed a little bit of productivity. I made a really valiant effort to start the lawnmower so I am not run out of my neighborhood with torches, but it was not to be. The mower is a hand-me-down and was always touchy anyway. Add in the fact that I've never touched the thing myself and the cards were not stacked in my favor. The grass that was really annoying me was just some over zealous tufts in the back yard, nothing a little weedwacking can't take care of. Yes, I mowed my lawn with a weekwacker. I'm nothing if not resourceful. But, while such an effort is fine in the privacy of my backyard, I think the neighbors would put down their torches in favor of a straightjacket if I made that the mowing method of choice for the front this summer.

So, I decided to bail on the small engine approach altogether and today ordered a reel push mower. You know, the old-fashioned, rotating blade type. I might pretend that I'm just super committed to reducing my carbon footprint, but really I just don't want to fight with machines. My yard isn't that big and it doesn't grow fast thanks to shade, clay and clover, so I think it'll be a manageable little project.

To further reduce my mowing obligations, I finished turning the last remaining portion of my backyard that gets any reasonable amount of sun into garden. Peas, red lettuce and broccoli are in!!