Accomplishing

There's something so lovely about a Saturday of Accomplishing. Finally unpacking from holiday travel, cranking through several loads of laundry, throwing some frozen chicken and buffalo sauce in the slow cooker, and realizing you have the energy somehow to change the sheets (well, enough to take the sheets off and wash them. Putting new sheets on is another matter entirely).

This weekend, we take down the holiday decorations, including our very sad, dried out, droopy Christmas tree. It's time to move on, to pack it all up for another 11 months or so, and to reset the house to normal conditions. I always enjoy packing decorations away...I think there's something comforting about stacking up the familiar comforts of a holiday and tucking them away, safe and sound, until next time.

Anyway, there's a lot to do this weekend but the weather is perfect for nesting. It's grey and cold outside, with wind and the threat of rain. Not too nasty to prevent me from going outside to do laundry (our basement access door is outside), at least not yet. And nothing inspires me to nest more than a gloomy day when I have nowhere to be but inside taking care of the home. And there's a lot to take care of today! Onward we go. 

Watering a Christmas Tree is Easy

Step 1: be sick, and stay home from work because you don't want to cough all over everyone.

Step 2: get way down low on the floor, water bottle in hand. reach for the tree stand with your bottle'd hand.

Step 3: knock your tree over.



Step 4: cry and hyperventilate because this has never happened to you before. Maybe call your husband in hysterics because you got scared and also you're sad that you broke some of your favorite ornaments.

Step 5: get the tree back up, as much as you can manage. It will probably look like a mess. There might be water all over the floor. There will definitely be broken glass and tin and whatever else ornaments are made out of all over the floor still. Give up on any further cleaning for a while, instead retreating to the couch and your blanket and Gilmore Girls.



Step 6: take another picture, once you've cleaned up the broken ornaments and pine needles and pools of water, and vacuumed the floor with the Shark vacuum you received at BlogHer 2015. Hey, thanks, Shark! Great job!



Step 7: wait until your husband returns from work and can help you straighten the tree, because it is most definitely a two-person job. remember how you spent 30 minutes doing this the night you bought the tree - because oops, turns out the tree is actually crooked and the tree stand needs to be propped up by books on one side.

Step 8: get the tree to be upright, and redecorate. turn on the lights so it feels less sad. redo all the beads, some of the lights, and approximately 20 ornaments.



Step 9: decide not to worry about the rug, which is still a little disheveled, or the tree skirt, which is still hanging over a door to dry. decide to instead just be happy that your tree is standing again.

Step 10: remember how happy you are that you hired a cleaner this morning to sweep and mop the floors, so that you weren't crawling around in post-party stickiness and residue - just Christmas tree shrapnel.

Happy Holidays to you all. Here's a picture of our multi-denominal decorations back when it was still Chanukkah, featuring our friend Zack at the piano.

Sponsored: Victoria Fine Foods Pasta Sauce

When it comes to comfort food, linguine with (red) clam sauce is way up there on my list. I have fond memories of my dad making it for us - it was his specialty - alongside his classic "secret recipe" garlic bread. Learning to make these dishes was important to me as a youngster, and it's something I've made over and over again as an adult.

Now, these are not fancy recipes. This pasta is quick and easy and one of those low effort high reward type dishes. But man, is the payoff worth it.

When Victoria Fine Foods reached out about expanding their pasta sauce line to California, and asked if I'd be willing to try their sauce and write about it, I started thinking about linguine with clam sauce, and my mouth started watering. Done deal. I'm glad I got to try their sauces -- I don't often buy jarred tomato sauce, but I do like to have go-to brands I can keep in the pantry for those nights when I don't want to make sauce from scratch. It's a great staple, marinara sauce. Versatile and delicious and just hits the spot on a cold night.

I'll share my recipe with you, because it's worth sharing. Make it, share it. I'm sure my dad will approve (but that garlic bread's still a secret).

Linguine with red clam sauce

feeds 4 people, plus leftovers, unless you're super hungry

1 box linguine (or fresh, if you have it)

1 jar marinara sauce (this time, I used Victoria Fine Foods' Fradiavolo) 

a few shakes red pepper flakes

a squeeze of lemon

some garlic, if your sauce doesn't have garlic in it 

1-2 cans chopped clams (up to you)

1-2 cans whole clams (up to you)

optional fresh clams, more for show than for the clam meat

How To:

1. Boil your linguine according to the package directions
2. Meanwhile, heat your marinara sauce (preferably in a wide pan with sides, like a sauté pan)
3. When the sauce is simmering, add your shakes of red pepper and squeeze of lemon (to taste, depending on how spicy and/or lemony you like things). If you're adding garlic, stir it in now (as much as you want).
4. Open your cans of clams, and drain them -- but before you drain them in the sink, drain a little bit of the clam juice (amount is up to your taste and how clammy you like things) into your marinara sauce. Gives it a little more clammy richness and depth.
5. Add the clams in the last minute or two and stir things around. You don't want to overcook them - they'll get chewy. Really, they only need a minute or two to heat up.
6. Toss the linguine in the pasta sauce. You want the noodles to be well-coated for deliciousness.
7. Gobble it up as quickly as possible.

A little plug for Victoria Fine Foods, because I really enjoyed the sauce: "The company uses a slow, kettle-cooked approach to making their sauces, and they use fresh, real food/non-GMO ingredients that provide an authentic homemade sauce in convenient, ready-to-eat form. They do have vegan options as well, and just expanded into California."

Full disclaimer: VFF sent me the sauce to review free of charge, but did not otherwise compensate me for this post. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Adulting

I adulted hard today, and it's late and I'm proud of myself so here goes:

I woke up (and got out of bed, that's the important part) early enough to make breakfast and still leave for work on time. 

I washed a sink full of dishes when I got home from work. 

I worked out. 

I washed the dishes and cleaned up after dinner. The kitchen is CLEAN.

I had fruit for dessert (I did have a mid-morning chocolate snack - it had espresso in it!).

I prepped tomorrow's dinner and put it on the fridge. 

I organized the freezer. It really does feel good to go to bed with a clean kitchen. Real Simple was right. 

I knocked two things off my to do list. 

I made a plan for tomorrow's breakfast.

I read a recipe that I'm planning to make tomorrow to make sure I had all the ingredients. 

I did my physical therapy (well, most of it).

I flossed. 

Even though I'm going to bed an hour and a half after I'd like to, I'm calling today a win. 

Skills and puzzles and work

Back in 2007, I applied for an Administrative Associate job at Google. All incoming Admin applicants had to take a test full of LSAT-style logic questions (in addition to a free-writing portion). At the time, I was confused, and assumed it was just something Google did because they were Google and liked testing people. They were big on metrics and applying math to people, and that was SO not my world and I thought it was ridiculous. But I wanted to work at Google. So I studied, and I prepped, and I took the test. I don't know what my exact results were, but I know I scored high enough to earn a coveted role as an "Eng Admin". That is, I was an Administrative Associate supporting a team of engineers (I had hoped for Google Books). Of course, at a company where Engineer is King, they told me that they "save their best Admins for the Engineers" (a nice ego boost, even though it's a ridiculous thing to say - and do).

Anyway, after only a few months working at Google, I learned the importance of that test. Scheduling meetings for the 7 busy executives I supported was like playing Tetris with calendars -- it was all about matchmaking and prioritization and contingencies. If I move this meeting to this spot, what will be affected? How can I maneuver things to get these 20 people in 4 time zones in one 30 minute meeting? If this guy can't make it, can I suggest changes to his own calendar to make room for my boss?

Similar challenges have come up at Disqus, most often when rearranging seating. As a small startup, we have to be nimble. When products or projects change, so change our teams. And teams work best when they can sit near each other, so sometimes we change the seating arrangement every quarter, if not more frequently! While we try to make things as minimally-disruptive as possible, sometimes what's best for productivity is a total overhaul. And when people work on more than one team, things can get a little complicated, and quickly! Not only do you have to consider how to place one specific team within the space in your office, you also have to consider the necessary proximity of each team to each other (for example, if specific people or entire teams work closely together - here's where the whole "people work on multiple teams" things can complicate your seating chart).

It's a lot of "if this, then that". It's like a puzzle, figuring out which pieces go where...but it's a puzzle where the pieces keep changing and there is no one right fit for each piece. It's a fun challenge, and a little bit of a crazy one, but I love it. There's something so satisfying about moving a bunch of pieces around, over and over, until you find the right combination. Especially satisfying if the people you're doing it for appreciate your time and talents :)


What are some skills you never thought you'd need? What did you realize you're good at, perhaps only after you realized how important it was?

Family Pizza Night!

Back in August, Rustic Crust contacted me about hosting a "family pizza night". I've always loved this idea - pizza is such a fun and easy way for the whole family to work together to make dinner. It's fun for kids, fun for adults, fun for our bellies. All around wins. My husband has a pizza dough recipe that he made as a kid, and I've had "family pizza night" with my parents and with kids I've babysat, but since we don't have children of our own yet, we don't have regular occasion to do "special" dinners. Like, with a theme. Like, FAMILY PIZZA NIGHT!

Anyway, October is apparently National Pizza Month (?), so why not celebrate by sharing the photos from our family pizza night. Our family right now is our close friends Sonja and Jack. We make dinners together often, but it was really fun to have an extra excuse to try something :)

The ingredients. Wine is especially important!

Sonja prepping our crusts with a brush of oil.

Sonja and Jack pose with their creations.
We made flatbread with fresh tomatoes and
parmesan, garlic herb crust with meatless
 meatballs and padron peppers, and plain flatbread
with figs, balsamic, and parmesan. Gourmet!

I mean, they're frickin' beautiful, no?

And like any great family dinner, it ends with empty glasses,
empty plates, full bellies, and passing out in front of the TV.

Thanks to Rustic Crust for sponsoring this post by providing the dough and the sauce! While I do prefer a from-scratch homemade crust, we don't always have time to make one. These ready to go flatbreads and crusts tasted way better than your standard Boboli, and it's nice to know that they come free from chemicals or artificial ingredients. Super delicious.

Full disclosure: Rustic Crust provided me with free samples for review, but did not influence my review or provide additional compensation. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Just Your Average Wednesday Night

While driving home from the mountains last weekend, we stopped at a fruit stand for some fresh strawberries. We bought an entire flat, because it was only $10, and I had a small desire to bake a pie (thinking about Waitress, lately, I guess). I had a bag of frozen rhubarb left over from last summer, when a neighbor mentioned she'd picked far more than she could eat, and had sliced and bagged it already. And it was exactly the right amount for Smitten Kitchen's Strawberry Rhubarb Pie recipe (that I'd made once before). And my dear friend Sonja is into baking pie. And Will is into eating pie. So pie time it was!

Sonja rolls out the top crust

It's missing something...

Ah yes, egg wash and a healthy dose of
cinnamon and sugar!

Perfection.

But because I'd picked so many beautiful tomatoes, I also wanted to make tomato sauce.

This is only a small sampling -- I had about 10 San Marzanos
all in all, I think? We added one very ripe Brandywine as well.

Our lovely upstairs neighbor offered to bring over dinner, so we didn't *need* it, but the tomatoes just looked so peak-sauce-readiness that I couldn't resist. Now it's in the freezer.

So I made tomato sauce and pie. And all was well in the world. Homesteading-ish is fun.


Are you growing anything at home? Have you been cooking lately? Do you ever surprise yourself with sudden industriousness and food-based inspiration? Is it just me, or is the End of Summer Ennui giving way to the Beginging of Fall Nesting Happiness?

Backyard Gardening 2015

Our garden has been sort of out of control awesome this year. I don't even know if it's more awesome than previous years, but I feel like every time I go out there, there's a bounty. And I photograph the bounty, because that's what I do, but then I don't take the time to upload and write about it. And the longer I wait, the more overwhelming the process of documenting and sharing our garden's progress seems.

But Summer is almost gone. While tomato season seems to just be hitting its stride (California's in a drought, you know, so we haven't been watering as much as in the past - plus we had a strange cool weather streak in early Summer), the beans are starting to waver, and the sugar snap peas are completely dead and gone. The lettuce is fading, but the squash is still hanging in there, and the chard is (maybe?) coming back for another round. The peppers are doing their pepper thing and we can hardly eat them fast enough. Carrots are popping out in groups of 4-6, which is just the right amount for a large salad, and we're about ready for a second harvest of small beets. The fennel is...well, I'm not sure if it'll ever be ready. Patience!

In lieu of a weekly garden update, I've been compiling all of our photos in to this lovely little photo album. It will continue to update as I add photos, but for now, enjoy this epic slideshow of garden goodness.

It Is It

Who needs Rice a Roni? The only San Francisco Treat I care about is the It's It. Cookies and ice cream, all covered in chocolate, frozen to perfection. I've tried the It's It several times before (I mean, Google had freezers filled with them and I just about lost my mind my first week working there!) but I couldn't turn down the opportunity to try some new flavors when the kind folks at It's It asked if they could send me some.

Glorious It's It magic
(this is one of their promo shots; I did not take it)

My coworkers gobbled most of them up before I could snag one (I was out of town the day they were delivered), but they saved me a Pumpkin-flavored one, and holy cow! Deliciously creamy, it was pumpkiny without being overwhelming, and the oatmeal spice cookies really balanced the pumpkin nicely. Definitely going to add this one to the rotation, especially for Fall! Mint might still be my all-time favorite, but I need to try the chocolate one of these days...and perhaps the cappuccino too :)

Super tasty, even though it was a little squished.
Most delicious eaten with a spoon.

Do you get It's It where you live (PS they deliver)? Has anyone seen them outside of SF? What kinds of ice cream treats do you treat yourself to?

While I did receive free ice cream sandwiches for myself and my team, I received no other compensation for this post and was not asked to write anything specificc. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Out and About at BlogHer

I had an amazing week in NYC, despite going through nearly an entire box of tissues (thanks, cold that decided to hit me two days before I left the Bay Area!) :)
My coworker Helen and I flew out on Tuesday afternoon to attend an HR summit put on by one of Disqus' investors. We had some really awesome conversations with fellow HR pros, and talked shop about extended leave policies and career development in small companies and the ups and downs of managing culture and morale in changing startup environments...super interesting, engaging discussions (which are basically my soul food). That was a whiz-bang super start to what would prove to be a jam-packed week of awesome!

Rather than trying to write beautiful prose about the incredibly fun things I did while in NYC, I'm going to list them out. Because damn. I packed a lot in. No wonder this is the city that never sleeps. And now, presenting...a lot of photos of things I did while in New York.

Nothing says summer in NYC (to me) like a
late night stroll with a soft serve cone.
And sneaking into the Rockefeller building.

There was dinner at Butter (I'm a big Alex Guarnaschelli fan).

Tuna tartare with shaved radish, cucumber balls, and a
nasturtium sauce.

There was Fun Home, which moved me to tears. There was lunch with Jolie. There was a screening of Ant Man, at which Paul Rudd made a guest appearance (and I nearly swooned).

He was utterly charming and adorable, even from as far
back as I was sitting.

There was a late night standup show in Greenwich Village, featuring some new comics and some great comics (including Jon Rineman, who writes for Fallon and was super funny).

We sat right up front. Fun place to be, but
didn't get teased as much as I thought we
would. 

There were multiple keynotes and sessions at BlogHer that gave me crazy inspiration (Soledad O'Brien totally made me cry, surprising no one), including this one featuring a few Girl Scouts. It reinforced my belief in the power of communities for women. I only made it through Brownies, but if I ever have a daughter, I'm signing her up!

I didn't realize how many Girl Scouts and Girl Scout alumns
there are in the US (more than 59 million American women)!

There was an awesome session on being true to yourself when developing your personal brand, featuring my buddy Irvin.

You do you.
Find your niche, identify what makes you who you are,
and run with that.

And then there was Wild Party, a show who's music I've loved since college. Oh, and Sutton Foster played Queenie. So there was that. More tears.

Seated up in the balcony, but the view was just fine :)

There was breakfast with college buddies, and a really interesting session about "when you're 'too much' for your audience" -- my takeaway? You have to be true to yourself and your voice. If an advertiser wants to pull out unless you change your voice, that's a decision you have to make. I sometimes struggle with saying things the way I might think them because I know my audience ranges from friends to family to coworkers...but you know what? You don't have to write everything you think, the way you think it. Endrant.

Anyway, after the midday sessioning, there was Something Rotten (after running around the blocked-off Times Square), featuring a former classmate of mine. And more tears.

And it was a damn good show.
Aleks is a singing, dancing superstar.

And then there was cheesecake. And then there was the closing night party, featuring Boys II Men (who sang the hits and tossed roses into the crowd) and a DJ and Nick Cannon (who I did not stick around for). And my annual McDonald's food fest.

Chowing down with the mom.me ladies, sending Lyz texts.
Because that's what friends do.

There were minions, and I freaked out a little bit, but Helen is a big brave girl.

I just really, really don't like mascots/people in costumes
where I can't see their actual faces.

We left the party around 9:30 or so, because I was like, "My ear hurts. I don't know why. I am a party pooper, I swear something is wrong with my ear." Turns out I had an ear infection. Oops.

And, as is the case most of the time I travel, I didn't wear half of the things I brought with me.

These are all the clothes I DIDN'T wear.
Only two of them are things I purchased
while in NYC.
I am an over-packer.

It was quite a whirlwind of craziness, but craziness of the best sort. I'll write a whole separate blog post about the swag and the vendors and all that madness later :)

Did you do anything awesome while you were in town for BlogHer? Did you get out and see the city, or did you hole up in the A/C of the Hilton?

Ye Olde BlogHer15 Recap

BlogHer 2015 has come and gone and once again worked its magic on my heart. There are lots of reasons to look forward to BlogHer conferences: the sessions, the keynotes, the parties, the travel, the brand networking...it's all tons of fun. But the thing that keeps me coming back is the people. This is one sensational community - it's hard to describe the magic of BlogHer.

Something I read in a fellow attendee's recap post really sums up the experience for me: "You meet up with people you know or you sit down next to people you never met before, and you immediately find yourself in a supportive environment. It is immediately collaborative."

I think that's what it's all about. Yes, there are niche communities within the larger group, but no matter what kind of blogger you are, people will talk to you with genuine curiosity and enthusiasm. If you put yourself out there, you will find your people, and you will make connections with people you thought you had nothing in common with. It's such a warm, welcoming group, all with a shared interest in expressing themselves through writing. There's a bit of an air of summer camp about it all. We're all at one big slumber party where the campers want to support and encourage each other.

I'm not a professional blogger. I write only for myself, in my spare time, when I feel inspired to share. But I am a community junkie. I love people, and finding my people, and talking to the people who want to talk about the things I love talking about. Heck, that's why love working at Disqus (my day job is running HR and Operations). But BlogHer is not just for professionals - BlogHer is for anyone. Through BlogHer, I've met other part-time bloggers like me. I've met women who've completely changed the course of their lives through their writing. I've met women who juggle more than I do, who are braver than I am, who are strong and kind and intelligent and creative, and who are building empires -- or who are just carving away precious minutes in their busy lives to devote to something they love. It's a community that is as diverse as it is unified. And I love being a part of it. I always leave feeling inspired, not just to write, but to be a better human.

Yes, there are opportunities to meet interesting brands and load up on swag (is it just me, or was this year's theme "toothpaste"?). And this year, there were more adorably tiny desserts than I could eat (and I can eat dessert!). And since the conference was in NYC, I got to indulge my theatre geekery and see a bunch of shows (and college friends). More on all that later.

For now, I'm kicking back in my seat on my flight home, still a little bit high on all the love I felt over the last few days. It was a joy and a pleasure to meet you. If you're someone I met in a session, in the expo hall, or on the dance floor, please say hi and leave a link to your blog in the comments! I'd love to check out your recap and whatever else you're writing these days!

Preparedness and Posturing

I'm much more aware of what I post on my blog in the months, weeks, days leading up to (and during) BlogHer. I know I'll have new readers, some of whom will stick around and some of whom will take one look and run the other way. I know there will be more eyes on my blog than usual, and I start to worry how it will be viewed - will people notice that I ramped up my publishing schedule a few months before the conference? Should I prep a bunch of stuff to be posted while I'm at the conference, so there's always something new for my new readers to digest? Will they realize this is what happens every year, as I get excited about the conference and become reinvigorated about blogging? Will they care?

Likely not.

BlogHer, for me, is an opportunity to find my community in person. I've written about it before, and I'm sure I will write much more from New York later this week. But for now, I'm going to try to stop thinking about what others will think when I finally get around to posting the four or five things that have been milling around my head...even if I post them all at once, and the day before the conference. Or even if I don't post them until weeks after, once I've uploaded the photos and figured out what I want to say.

Because I'm not a professional blogger, my blog is my own space. It is what I make it, and it changes. And that's ok. And if you're a new reader, starting to keep tabs on the new faces you're about to meet, or have recently met, hi. I don't mind if you don't post regularly either :)

Aunt Gussie's Chocolate Cake

This weekend was my husband's birthday, and because he'd already had his favorite cake (we visited his parents the week prior, and his mom made it), I decided to try my hand at an old family recipe from my side. This recipe comes to us by way of a photo-text message from my mom - a recipe card, in my grandma's handwriting. I never knew my Great-Great Aunt Gussie, but it felt special to make this recipe that was hers, that my family has made for generations.

I used butter instead of shortening, because I don't tend to
buy shortening, and my mom said it was ok.
Thanks, ma!

I just realized that I forgot the baking soda. That could explain why the cake didn't rise very much. I just thought that was the style. And DAMN, I had bragged about how I followed the recipe exactly, to the T (I usually improvise)! Le sigh. I did get compliments on how dense, but not too rich, the cake was, so I guess people liked it anyway. Now I have to make it again to do it right!

A little hard to read, but it says 1 pt whipping cream, and 4
heaping tbsp cocoa.

I'd never used whipped cream as frosting before, but it was dang good! I love making whipped cream. Never buy the canned stuff anymore, because it's just too easy and delicious to make it the real way!

The final cake. Got a little sloppier on the
frosting than I'd have liked to (the parchment
paper slipped) but nobody seemed to notice. 

One tiny piece left. Perfect for breakfast cake!

This was a stupendous cake - spicy from the brown sugar, tangy from the buttermilk. The frosting is elegant and light, complementing the cake beautifully. I may make it again this weekend.

Presenting: Lazy Pickles

About a week ago, I shared with you my "recipe" for Lazy Pickles. And I know. You've been sitting here waiting anxiously to see if my pickles turned out ok. Well, friends, I'm here to let you know that they did. Photo-journalism-style (aka lazy-blogging-style).

Sunday, June 14. 5:30pm.
Raw as can be. Just jarred.
And yes, the dill is from my garden.
Everything else is from the store.

Thursday, June 18. 6:30pm.
Getting a little picklier.

Thursday, June 18. 10:30pm.
I punched down the kraut.
What does that mean? 

Literally, take off the lid. Stick your fist in the jar.
Smoosh (or "punch" gently) the kraut down. This
forces the liquid out of the cabbage, putting it
underwater and also making it softer? Either way,
it is a very important thing to do.
Because science.

At this point, we went away for the weekend. The spears/romanesco looked and smelled done, so we put them in the fridge to stop the fermentation process. The rest got to chill on the counter for two more days.

Monday, June 23. 6:30pm.
I think they're done. The kraut tastes like kraut.
The pickles are briny as hell!

Check out how cloudy that brine is!
Full of fermentation and good bacteria!

Time to eat! We had a few pickle spears as a pre-dinner snack last night, and they were sour, salty, dilly, briney deliciousness. I used English Cucumbers from Trader Joe's - I think if I'd used *actual* pickling cucumbers, they might not be as soft. But I really don't mind. They're totally delicious, and I kind of like the softness...reminds me of the super old pickles from the Jewish delis I grew up with. Next time, I might use even more dill, and maybe either a firmer cucumber, or just a slightly shorter fermentation period.

And there you have it. 8 days. 5 days for the spears. Super lazy. Super delicious. PICKLES.

Some resources if you want to read more about this fun world: pickling vs fermenting, a little about sour pickles, basically self-fermented foods like kraut and pickles are medicine.

Questions about my methodology? Pickling stories of your own to share? Did eating fermented food save your life? Let's chat in the comments below!

Lazy Pickling

I'm a lazy pickler. When I decided to try making my own pickles a year or so ago, I looked up the easiest possible ways, aside from "refrigerator pickles" which are a little too quick for my tastes - I like my pickles old and briney.

I found a recipe that described self-fermentation, which sounded like something I could get behind. And it's brilliant. 

Take an assortment of pickling spices, your items to be pickled, put in a jar, and cover with water. Leave 'em on the counter for about a week, and store in the fridge. They're not shelf stable, but that's ok with me. It's so quick and easy, and I don't need to make more than. Jar of two at a time (which fit easily in the fridge) anyway. 

I also learned how to make sauerkraut, which is so easy it's embarrassing. Shred cabbage. Put in bowl. Add salt. Mush around with fingers until it's soft and wet. Stuff into jars. Leave on counter for about a week, opening the jars to stuff the cabbage back under the water level every few days. Store in fridge when it tastes sauerkrauty enough to you.

I made a few jars today in honor of the copious amount of dill that's already grown in our garden. Summer has begun. 

L-R: plain kraut, caraway kraut, whole pickles (first time!), sliced pickles with romanesco. Day 1.

Thinning

On Memorial Day morning, we spent an hour or so thinning the new plants that recently sprouted. This is a pretty typical part of the process when you start from seeds...you plant more seeds than you will think will actually grow, and then a bunch pop up, and then you have to thin them out. Otherwise, the roots don't develop properly, and when you're growing things like radishes or carrots, the thing you're growing doesn't have space to grow to a decent size. SCIENCE! (ahem)

Here's an example of what I mean - the before photos are in the top row; the afters in the bottom. It's a little hard to see. I'm not a great photographer.

Will, thinning the radishes (left).
I thinned the fennel (right).

Will in the garden, thinning our beets.
The carrots (under his right hand) are not quite
ready to be thinned...they're a little too little.

And lest you think that those thinned out bits go to waste...they're totally edible, and totally delicious! We're going to have a radish, fennel and beet sprout (aka "microgreens" - they're not technically sprouts) salad with dinner tonight.

yum

Backyard Garden 2015

We always plant in May. Usually, May is when it starts getting warm. The days are longer, and Springtime in Berkeley is a glorious time of blooms and hope. My birthday is in May, and always falls on the same weekend as the Edible Schoolyard Plant Sale - two things that combine for a relaxing birthday weekend of planning and planting. This will be our 4th season.

I like writing about gardening. It's helpful for me to track progress; I like looking back at early photos and seeing how our little plant babies have grown. I like being able to share how our plants are doing with other gardeners (can I call myself a gardener?), and I like trying to find words to describe the magic and wonder of planting things in the ground that later become food. It's pretty special.

And so, a few weeks late, here's a little bit about what we've planted this year. Once again, we hit up a combination of the Edible Schoolyard and Berkeley Horticulture. And this year, we decided to experiment with mulch! It's been such a dry season, and California's in a pretty major drought, so I figured anything we could do to help our soil retain water would help. Plus, I hear that mulch is good for repelling pests like the snails who end up terrorizing our plants. We went with cocoa shell husk, because omg you guys it smells like chocolate. Also, it's pretty, and it wasn't expensive, and I'd never heard of it before. I like to just try things, ya know?

In this year's garden:

• Tomatoes (5 varieties; 6 plants)
• Beans (2 varieties; 12 plants)
• Sugar snap peas (6 plants)
• Lettuce (2 varieties; 3 plants)
• Dill (6 plants)
• Basil (6 plants)
• Peppers (5 varieties; 10 plants)
• Rainbow chard (6 plants)
• Squash (2 varieties; 2 plants)
• Beets, Carrots, Fennel and Radishes (from seed; # plants unknown)

Without further ado, the photos! 

First things first, we had to turn the soil. Which we did a lot.
And by "we" I mean mostly Will and our friend CC.
We have a planter box this year (thanks, landlord) due to the
dubious nature of planting things underground in that spot,
next to a tree that may or may not be poisonous.
Date: May 2, 2015

Soil turned. Compost added. Planter box filled.
Look how beautiful that soil looks!
Date: May 9, 2015

The plants are in the ground!
I repeat: the plants are in the ground!
Date: May 10, 2015

And then, the cocoa shell mulch! The planter box and that
patch in the front don't have mulch because that's where we
planted our seeds. Waiting until they become seedlings to
mulch 'em, because we want them to be able to break through!
Date: May 10, 2015 (my birthday!)

A week later - progress! Some of our seeds have started
sprouting, and things are looking pretty stable.
Date: May 16, 2015

About two weeks post-planting, we're getting some serious
sprout action from both the ground and the planter box.
Everything else has started shooting up, with the exception of
our poor delicata squash (top right; next to the yellow spiral).
It seems to have completely rotted out -- I'm not sure if it was
a bad plant to begin with, or if the soil and the mulch and the
watering were all just too much for it. Nothing else is rotten,
though there are a few patches of mulch that looked to be
a little moldy. We've turned off the sprinklers for now; it's
not very warm out anyway, and we might as well save water
and let things dry out a bit.
Date: May 22, 2015

And there you have it. The backyard garden, circa 2015! We did some thinning today, because as you can see, the sprouts were coming in a little thick. More on that to come. Happy gardening! What are you planting this year?