My dad created a beautiful pond in our backyard. It’s a real ecosystem full of koi fish, plants, frogs, algae, and dragon flies. The fish mate every spring, which causes the water to foam up and the air to really stink. As gross as this process is, it has produced quite a few babies. I’d guess that more than half of the countless (literally, we try) fish in our pond were born there. But in the last eight or so … Continue reading
My family planted a beautiful garden this year, and it has produced a lot of delicious vegetables. Even more are still growing and ripening! I was lucky enough to do some picking myself, and I am amazed at the backyard bounty we have ready to eat. I picked all kinds of peppers (red, green, jalapeño), a cucumber, string beans, cherry tomatoes, a huge tomato, and a beautiful eggplant. I am most impressed with the eggplant because I’ve never seen one … Continue reading
Heirloom tomatoes are one of the many reasons I love the summer. I turned a beautiful batch of heirlooms into a sweetly concentrated sauce/spread/jam last summer, and I’ve been dying to do it again. Now that Trader Joe’s has their beautiful boxes of tomatoes for sale, I jumped on the chance to cook up another batch. This spread is both incredibly delicious and surprisingly versatile. You can eat it with a poached egg and piece of toast, spread on some … Continue reading