the garden: bird feeder

I put up a cute bird feeder in my backyard last weekend, and at first I was kind of sad because I wasn't getting any customers. But then a sparrow started coming around. Here she is, viewed from inside the house: 

And pretty soon she told all of her sparrow friends because by Saturday afternoon it was like I was running a sparrow nightclub. In related news, this is how Victor is now spending 100 percent of his free time: 

I mentioned previously about Tony's first-place award for chicken showmanship. He busted out some more of his avian knowledge as we were watching the birds, identifying the male and female sparrows, grackles, mourning doves and cardinals. The things you learn about your spouse.

So the birds have pretty much decimated the supply of sunflower seeds that I put in the bird feeder. And I'm not sure whether I'm going to refill it because those little bastards ate all of my strawberries while they were here. And squirrels were all over my backyard. Whom I blame for this crime, which I came home to last night:

Bah humbug.

life: eastern market cake & sausages

Scott and Michele stopped by Saturday morning with a cake in hand. Apparently it's a Chinese tradition to bring your friends and family cakes as a thank-you for helping out after your baby is born. This is my new favorite tradition. I am on board with any tradition that involves cake.  

It's a strawberry cake from the bakery at Eastern Market, and it was quite tasty. I've never had anything bad from that bakery. My brother-in-law Ian, who lives in London with my sister was visiting for a long weekend, and the three of us managed to put a good dent in it. 

Before Ian came, I was making the grocery list for the week, and I called my mom to ask what kind of dinners she makes for Ian when he's at her house. Without hesitation, she said sausages. Any kind of sausages. Hot dogs. Bratwurst. Kielbasa. The man likes his sausages. So we had sausages Friday night. Tony and Ian picked out some whiskey-fennel-onion sausages from Eastern Market, and both gave them high marks. They said the whiskey added a sweet flavor. (Meanwhile, yours truly, the vegetarian, chowed down on a veggie sausage.) Here's Tony's sausage, topped with onions and hot banana peppers from the garden:  

entertaining: berries and brunch

The beauty of Sunday's brunch was its simplicity. Granola with Greek yogurt and fresh blueberries and strawberries. Hard boiled eggs. Raspberry lemonade. Tony and I woke up Sunday morning, put everything in serving bowls, and, voila, instant brunch with Camille and Matt. 

The raspberry lemonade was the only homemade part of the brunch. It's pink, which is fun. And it's a nice summer drink, a good combo of sweet and tart. 

Raspberry Lemonade

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 6 ounces raspberries
• 8 lemons
• 4 cups water

Combine sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan, and heat on low until sugar dissolves, making a simple syrup. Cool. 

Puree raspberries in a food processor. Strain the berries to separate out the seeds. Discard the seeds. 

Juice the lemons.

Combine simple syrup, raspberry puree, and lemon juice in a large pitcher. Add 4 cups water. Chill and serve over ice. 

the garden: the calm before the storm

Radishes. Lettuce. Herbs. Strawberries. Yeah, yeah, that's all been nice. But I'm ready for some substantial VEGETABLES from my garden. I was scoping things out last night, and I think this 100-degree weather has been good to my plants. It looks like it's only a matter of days now before we really start getting the summer harvest. 

My backyard is tiny. We'll call it "cozy." Which means I have to be creative about growing big vegetables that tend to spread, like cucumbers. I planted the cukes in pots, and they're growing up trellises. And it's working wonderfully. I'm about to pick the first one. 

And I have one cherry tomato that's about to turn. 

Oh, and I'm so close to picking these hot banana peppers.

Stay tuned in the next few days because it looks like I'll have some harvesting updates on my adventures in urban gardening.

the garden: strawberries

My first strawberries have arrived! I'm growing just one plant in a pot, which is giving me enough berries to snack on here and there. 

And unfortunately, I think my homegrown strawberries have ruined grocery-store strawberries for me. Seriously, these berries work taste buds I didn't even know I had. 

I bought the plant in May at Home Depot in Northeast. The plants looked like they'd been neglected, so they were on sale for $1.49. I rooted around for the healthiest one I could find with flower buds, and when I got it home, I pruned off the dead leaves, fed it a little Miracle-Gro, set it in the sun, and it perked right back up. 

It's been an easy plant to grow, and here's a planting tip I picked up from my dad: When you put the plant in the ground, bury only the roots, leaving the crown to sit on top of the soil: 

Mine is an everbearing plant, so I'll be getting berries until winter. And strawberries are perennials, so I'm expecting fruit again next year.

I think my biggest challenge with this plant is going to be Woman vs. Nature: getting to the fruit before the birds and critters can find it. 

recipe: strawberry muffins

A perfect storm brought strawberry muffins into my house last night. First, they're practically giving strawberries away at the grocery store this time of year, so I'm stocked up. Second, I had an opened carton of sour cream that needed to be used. Third, the weather was rainy and cool yesterday, so I could turn on the oven without heating up the house.

They turned out to be just lovely. They're quite tasty, and they're pink, thanks to pureed strawberries and food coloring.

Strawberry Muffins

• 1 stick of butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• red food coloring
• 1/2 cup strawberries, pureed in food processor 
• 1 cup strawberries, chopped
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, 10 drops of red food coloring, and pureed strawberries.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir in the chopped strawberries.

Line muffin tins. Fill the cups 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until a toothpick has only a few crumbs on it.

This should make 12 muffins, but I had a little bit of batter left over, so I was able to get four bonus muffins out of this batch.