I bought a sensitivity plant at the grocery store last week. It reminds me of my grandma (on my Mom’s side). When I was little and we went to visit, she used to take the plant down from the windowsill and let me touch it. After living together for a week now, I can say that this definitely rivals having a dog — in the sense that at least this is a plant that you can interact with a little.
See the sensitivity plant in action! (video loading below…)
Ok folks, questa è senza dubio la scoperta del mese!! I’ve been clueless for so long, but this week I discovered Save-a-Lot Italia! And it’s right on my way home from work. Double score. I needed raisins for the Moroccan Chicken Couscous recipe I wanted to try and was not looking forward to the big grocery store experience during grocery rush hour.
So in the desperation of the moment, I pulled into the sketchy DICO parking lot, praying for raisins. Not only did they have raisins, but they had CHEAP raisins and cheap everything! You can only imagine my excitement – I got a loaf of bread, six 2-liter bottles of sparkling water, a bag of raisins, and a pair of tweezers –all for a grand total of €4.28!! Do you understand the savings?!
The Moroccan Chicken Couscous was quick, easy and really good! It was from the Parents.com newsletter. I enjoy the Parents.com weekly newsletter, even though I’m not a parent. I tried their Banana Ginger cookies the other night too. The flavor combination intruiged me and I had a blackening banana that was starting to make friends with the neighborhood fruit flies. The cookies weren’t bad, just kind of weird; creaming method without eggs. I made half the recipe, and put milk chocolate chunks in some of the cookies. The lemon glaze was really lemony thanks to our awesome lemons from our neighbors by the sea house. But I think I’ll make banana chocolate chip muffins the next time I have rotting bananas around.
This month I crave. I crave The Rock. I crave Golden Grahams. I crave Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I crave being around people that know me. I crave having a conversation in English.
You may be wondering how I deal with these cravings. Well, I’ve been eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich for lunch everyday this month and making some seriously old-school recipes from the Alpha Bakery Cookbook, in particular Veggie Bites (try the recipe!) and Lemon Squares. The Veggie Bites, which I made to stuzzicare (munch on) before a dinner party, were a big hit, as always. Unfortunately (depending on your point of view), the Lemon Squares didn’t go over real big and I ended up eating the entire batch myself. I don’t know what’s with Italians and their lack of appreciation for American desserts. I feel they need to get used to spices and sugar. At least the ones that live with me!
Today was very productive. I got a good start on pulling the infestation of weeds that took over the garden during these last two weeks of constant rain. I can’t believe how many there are – and how tall they are!! I have three basic types of weeds: the first and worst I refer to as “the strangler“. It’s a viney number that climbs up plants and wraps itself around and around until the plant underneath basically suffocates and dies. These chappies have super long roots that run horizontally under ground. They’re tricky to deal with because you think you’ve pulled out the weed and then find that it’s attached to a clandestine horizontal carrot with millions of other roots branching out and just waiting to pop up and strangle your next plant. Agressive little buggers.
The second is a happy, tree-like weed with soft fuzzy leaves. It grows tall but is easy to pull out. And once it’s out it’s out. Nothing too sneaky about this one, except for the surprising quickness with which it regenerates creating a mini forest where you once planted lettuce.
The third weed is what I like to call “heavy-duty grass“. I know what you’re thinking; grass, shira? Big deal. But it’s HARD grass and it REFUSES to come out of the ground when you yank it. It’s practically impossible to get to the root of these suckers, and so you know it’s going to grow back in like two days while your back is turned. Evil. I have quite a large patch of heavy-duty grass that’s going to meet the weed wacker and a hoe tomorrow.
Have you heard about miracle berries?? They look like oblong cranberries and trick your tongue into experiencing flavors in a new way. Apparently they’re all the rage in NYC. I’m dying to try one!! Check out this New York Times article for the juicy details.
This is about the only decent picture of me and the bros that’s been taken in the last ten years. There are lots of cute ones from when we were little, but now that we’re older I guess we’re not as photogenic…
He we are at the lake on the ol’ Gypsy Star (a.k.a. “You What?!”) which unfortunately hasn’t seen the water in at least two years. Big progress on the Rock this year – the new kitchen is in and all the drywalling is done. Dad built a deck last weekend, can’t wait to see it all!!
I thought I would share with you all this poem my brother Ben wrote for me on my last birthday.
Pay particular attention to his creative sense of spelling, which I, for one, find most inspirational.
Here’s the recap incase you can’t read his handwriting:
“Your a Glimmering skunk linging in the wind.
A beautiful sponge, withering from essance
A Shimmering Gem flowing in a river of sewage.
An overessant piece of pit-hair dangling off the arm of a pre-mature, european hooker.
A blossoming wart pussing with
glamour.”
Just remember folks, poetry does not always have to be grammatically correct.
Thanks, Ben! I’ve always thought of you as a Shimmering Gem flowing in a river of sewage too. 🙂