I want to welcome you to a new series of posts I will be writing weekly.  I have a new thirst for infused waters and home made ice teas with an extra little je ne sais quoi.

I had purchased a Cool Waters by Brian Preston – Campbel, about a year ago and have definitely admired the lovely pictures.  I have yet to make anything from it!  Hopefully these posts will encourage me to try them out and review them for you, because they look absolutely delicious and healthy!

I got invited to a fabulous Burning Man party last weekend and as part of participating, we were asked to contribute food and drinks.  Here you can see, I’ve put Henrik (my new love) to work on building these caprese h’orderves on a toothpick.  Mozzarella and tomatoes were purchased at the store.  I will get my act together and grow my own tomatoes next season!  The basil came from my roof garden.  Nonetheless, everybody LOVED Henrik’s caprese h’orderves and couldn’t stop complimenting him on how delicious they were.  The party was a total success as well!  We all had a blast!  I even sang my first karaoke, which was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.  People did cheer me on when I hit the high notes, so I must have not sucked…  🙂

Henrik : the Capresinator

I love this delicious salad green that has weed like properties because it is so hardy and easy to grow.

Where do I start?  I grew up eating purslane in Turkey where it would be served as a “mezze” appetizer before dinner.  Well, let me explain.  Mezze actually pertains to munchies to go along with raki (Turkish ouzo).  I’ve provided the recipe on the recipes page for you to try out.

Purslane tastes a little tangy.  It is apparently very nutritious.

High in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper, Manganese, Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6 and Folate

Here’s a brief description from Wikipedia

Portulaca oleracea (Common Purslane, also known as Verdolaga, Pigweed, Little Hogweed, or Pusley), is an annual succulent in the family Portulacaceae, which can reach 40 cm in height. About 40 varieties are currently cultivated.^[1] It has an extensive old-world distribution extending from North Africa through the Middle East (called الرجلة or البقلة) and the Indian Subcontinent to Malesia and Australasia. The species status in the New World is uncertain: In general, it is considered an exotic weed; however, there is evidence that the species was in Crawford Lakedeposits (Ontario) in 1430-89 AD, suggesting that it reached North America in the pre-Columbian era.^[2] It is naturalised elsewhere and in some regions is considered an invasive weed. It has smooth, reddish, mostly prostrate stems and alternate leaves clustered at stem joints and ends. The yellow flowers have five regular parts and are up to 6 mm wide. The flowers appear depending upon rainfall and may occur year-round. The flowers open singly at the center of the leaf cluster for only a few hours on sunny mornings. Seeds are formed in a tiny pod, which opens when the seeds are ready. Purslane has a taproot with fibrous secondary roots and is able to tolerate poor, compacted soils and drought.

If you’re into gourmet salads that you can’t even find at the fanciest of luxury organic superstores…try out purslane!  This is certainly exactly the ideal Urban – Horticulture plant.  Easty to grow, grows pretty quickly, reseeds, disease resistant….what more could an urban apartment dweller with limited gardening space ask for?

Recipe: Homemade Sriracha Sauce, Ode to a Rooster..

Really neat recipe if you grow your own chillies!  Way to impress your friends and family!

It was Christian and Bob’s gaming day.  Yes, you read correctly.  A day in which Bob comes over in the morning and they game till the next morning.  It gets competitive and there’s lots of friendly jabs that go back and forth.  I don’t game with them, however, I do add a curve ball by jumping in front of the sensor to mess up their game.  It’s pretty funny.

Back to food and culinary herbs…  We all got pretty hungry and I decided to whip up some spaghetti and meatballs with red sauce.  I made my sauce with:

• tomato sauce
• garlic
• fresh sprigs of rosemary
• fresh mint leaves
• salt & a dash of sugar

The sauce gave off such a beautiful aroma in the house.  Appetites perked up and we all sat down to eat.  The mint flavor was definitely noticeable, but not offensive to picky palates.  If it were just me, I would have added much more garlic (enough to regret in a few hours).  All in all, this ended being a nice sauce I created.

It was Christian and Bob’s gaming day. Yes, you read correctly. A day in which Bob comes over in the morning and they game till the next morning. It gets competitive and there’s lots of friendly jabs that go back and forth. I don’t game with them, however, I do add a curve ball by jumping in front of the sensor to mess up their game. It’s pretty funny.

Back to food and culinary herbs… We all got pretty hungry and I decided to whip up some spaghetti and meatballs with red sauce. I made my sauce with:

• tomato sauce
• garlic
• fresh sprigs of rosemary
• fresh mint leaves
• salt & a dash of sugar

The sauce gave off such a beautiful aroma in the house. Appetites perked up and we all sat down to eat. The mint flavor was definitely noticeable, but not offensive to picky palates. If it were just me, I would have added much more garlic (enough to regret in a few hours). All in all, this ended being a nice sauce I created.