Firsts of the Season

This morning I was able to harvest the first tomatoes and zucchini of the season and am now enjoying a yummy tomato-zucchini-egg omelet. The hot, dry weather is perfect for tomatoes and I can tell I will have way too many to know what to do with. However, it's not so good for the Spinach and Broccoli, whose leaves were completely brown and dry. Although they have been dead for almost two weeks now, I couldn't bring myself to pull them out of the ground until this morning. I planted some butternut squash in their place and hopefully those turn out a little bit better.


The round tomatoes are a Moskovich Heirloom variety from Russia and the smaller ones are grape tomotoes. Both are delicious!

Octidextrous?

As some of you know (but most of you probably don't know) I have a thing for Octopuses. They are fascinatingly smart creatures who can open cages, escape via small openings, play with toys and solve all sorts of mental conundrums. Most recently a study is being conducted to figure out if Octopuses favor one tentacle over another or if they are octidextrous. For the story (which involves Rubik's Cubes) click here.

the Pirate wins!

Yesterday was a big day in tennis history as Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer to win at Wimbledon just a couple of weeks after winning the French Open. The last person to do this was Bjorn Borg back in 1980. The game was phenomenal as both Nadal and Federer played fantastically. While the game is notable, I'm really using it as an excuse to post a picture of my friend Zach dressed up as Bjorn Borg for our friend Brian's 30th birthday party last fall.


The theme was "old-school," so we all had to dress-up as something considered old-school. Zach was an old-school tennis player, another friend was an old-school golf star and I, on suggestion from my Aunt Marcia, went as an old-school housewife. You know, 1950s style.

pool party

One of my recent adventures has been hanging out with some of my family out in Kansas. Back in June I traveled by Greyhound Bus (which was another adventure entirely) to Kansas where my mom threw me a fantastic graduation celebration. Friday night we roasted hot dogs out on my parents land with our friends Jim and Janet Zook and some of my family on my mom's side: Roland and Ruth, Robyn, Ryan, Darin and Heather, Lyle and Joyce, Marcela and Harmony...and the newest Miller-Clan member, 3-week old Samantha. Samantha mostly sat there and looked beautiful, while Marcela and Harmony (ages 4 and 3) caught fireflies and the adults caught up on each others lives.

On Saturday morning I got to go on a bike ride with Marcela and just because she is only four, don't think she doesn't know what she is doing. For an awesome video of Marcela riding her bike, check out her parents' blog. Then more relatives came over for lunch and in the afternoon we had a good old-fashioned pool party - my mom even brought some cupcakes and ice cream. After a dinner of pizza, my cousin Robyn, her son Jack, my mom and my uncle Roland and aunt Ruth played a game of Hand to Foot. I first learned to play the game back in high school when I went to visit Robyn in Bolivia and ever since, Robyn and I can't have a visit with one another without playing. So even though we were all exhausted from the day, we still managed to squeeze in a game.

The whole weekend was relaxing and fun, but also full of difficult goodbyes. My cousin Reggie, his wife Angel and their two girls, Marcela and Harmony are heading to the Philippines this next weekend for a three-year stint with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Since visiting them in Panama a couple of years ago, I've been able to get to know them all better and have had so much fun getting to know Marcela and Harmony. Then, to make the end of the weekend even more sad, I also had to say goodbye to my cousin Robyn, her husband Rolly and their three kids. They are returning to Malaga, Spain in August for three years as well. Both families mean so much to me and I couldn't help but cry at the end of the weekend. In order to get over the sadness, I have already started dreaming of trips to visit them all...so if anyone wants to join, just let me know!

Happy Birthday, Amer-ca!

I received an e-mail from a far-off friend who was pointing out that I hadn't updated my blog since the beginning. This is true and I apologize for almost becoming one of those people who starts a blog, tells all her friends and then ceases to post anything. However, I am not going to be one of those people! In fact, my life has been full of blog-worthy events lately, but I was hoping to highlight my adventures with pictures. Alas, my camera is less-than-reliable and so I don't have any pictures at this time. In the next few days I hope to add them, so come back soon! In the meantime, here's a picture of some of the cute kids from one of my yoga classes. This Wednesday we are taking a field trip to a real yoga studio! It should be an adventure as we'll walk eight blocks with our mats from the housing projects to the art district for yoga in a middle-class, mostly white-hippie studio.

Detroit Gardens

Of course, I'm certainly not the only person with a garden. In fact, my friend Eric is managing an entire CSA, a number of my friends have a garden in the backyard, and many cities are trying to encourage gardens as a way for low-income neighborhoods to get access to affordable food, while also building community. On the Bryant Park Project they talked specifically about gardens in Detroit. Check it out.

Blog Number 1

Welcome, friends, to my blog. For my first entry I've decided to talk a little bit about gardening and in particular my urban garden. Upon moving from Harrisonburg to Denver, one of my greatest longings has been fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. Back in Harrisonburg, I would walk eight blocks every Saturday from my house to the local farmer's market and then on Tuesdays I would pick up my CSA share. Fresh tomatoes, a wide range of greens and all the apples I could want were right there, at my finger tips. Here in Denver, it's a little more difficult. The farmer's markets are farther away and the cost for organic vegetables is much higher.

Then one day, as I was walking through my neighborhood with Emma I discovered a small community garden just blocks from my house. I checked into it and discovered an amazing organization called Denver Urban Gardens. Soon I was volunteering to help at a cooking class for 4th graders and purchased my own plot for $20 a year.

Next came the vegetables plants. So I hit up the Denver Botanic Gardens and a friend's school fundraiser. Not knowing what I was doing, I purchased 10 tomato, 2 zucchini, 4 green pepper, 1 cucumber, 4 brocoli, 4 arugula, 4 lettuce, 2 mint and 4 spinach plants. Upon realizing that 10 tomato plants may have been a few too many, I grabbed 6 hot pepper plants and hope to make salsa. A lot of it.

Just this past week I harvested my very first plants. The arugula has been growing fast and furious the entire time (it's the current All Star) and was the first to be ready.


I picked it on Wednesday and made this yummy salad:

Beet and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese Fondue

Beets:
3 pounds medium beets, scrubbed, ends trimmed
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Goat Cheese Fondue:
1/2 cup cream
8 ounces goat cheese

Sherry Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup sherry vinegar
2 T minced shallot
1 T mustard
1 1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey

And of course, the All Star Ingredient:
1 pound arugula

Preheat oven to 350

Beets: Toss the beets in oil, salt and pepper. Place beets in a deep baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Roast at 350 for two hours or until tender. When cool, peel skin off beets. Chop into 1/4-inch squares.

Fondue: While beets are roasting, prepare the fondue. In a heavy-bottom saucepan over medium-high heat, reduce the cream by half. Reduce the heath to medium-low and whisk in goa cheese, until melted. Season with salt and pepper.

Sherry Vinaigrette: In a mixing bow, whisk together vinegar, shallot, mustard and honey. Slowly whisk in oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Put It Together: Toss the arugula lighly in some of the vinaigrette and arrange on a platter. Toss the diced beets in some of the vinaigrette and spoon over arugula. Drizzle the fondue on the platter. Enjoy! Serves 6.