garden

this year, i'm trying my black thumb out at gardening. luckily, the upstairs neighbor is a good gardener, and i think i'm getting the hang of some of it :) we're doing that square-foot gardening thing (i like this guy, tim's, web site--he explains it well). with 2 boxes, we were able to plant a lot! plus, we have tons of herbs and other things in little window boxes and pots. hopefully, we'll have a bumper crop--i've already reaped the rewards of the herbs so far!

what we've got in the square-foot gardening boxes:

• tomatoes
• 8 cucumber plants, including pickling cucumbers
  
• 3 broccoli plants
• a bunch of sweet peas
• both gold and red beets
• scallions and shallots
• 4 corn plants
• 3 round zucchini plants
• 1 green cabbage plant
• several types of lettuces
• carrots

in our window boxes and pots, we have even more:

• more tomatoes
• 3 more broccoli plants
• several basil varieties
• cilantro
• japanese parsley
• eucalyptus
• thyme
• rosemary
• chocolate mint
• peppermint
• a meyer lemon tree
• dill

and around the patio, the previous owners had planted oregano, sage and lemon verbena. so hopefully we'll have a lot to show for it this year!

italian bread rolls, for real!

a while ago, i finally caved and admitted that the gf flour blend i was routinely using was just plain not available in massachusetts. i was getting it when i went up to maine, at a place called wild flours gluten free market. they were in brunswick. then i heard that their block had a fire and they burned down! now, they are still doing bake sales and farmer's markets (it looks like from their facebook page), but that doesn't help me down here in massachusetts. so, in short, i changed flour brands. AND I AM SO HAPPY I DID!

this stuff is amazing! it's called better batter and i made real, chewy, wonderful italian bread rolls with it :)


italian bread rolls (adapted from back of better batter box)

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 1/2 c warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 c better batter flour
1/4 c cornmeal
olive oil and course salt

1. preheat oven to 450.
2. cover baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with cornmeal.
3. using an electric stand mixer, mix together yeast and water and let sit for 5 minutes.
4. add salt and flour and beat on high for 4 minutes.
5. spoon batter onto baking sheet in 1/2 c scoops. smooth over with a spatula or wet hands. brush the tops lightly with olive oil. sprinkle with course salt, if desired.
6. let rise for about 20 minutes.
7. bake for 20-30 minutes and then cool on wire rack.

THIS WAS AWESOME! we made fancy sandwiches with them and just stuffed our faces. they were delicious :)