Status Update: Garden

Lettuces that were planted next to the tomato plants when they were small. Now the tomatoes are big and the lettuce is about ready to come out.


Soy beans, a little crowded in a barrel. I understand soybeans can grow in crowded conditions. Just the beginnings of flowers on these, hoping for edamame in the near future.


Green beans, little but with teeny tiny green beans on them already. And two healthy, very giving chard plants alongside. We've had a good many servings of chard from just these two plants and that will continue.

Tub 0'lettuces and beets.

Here's what things look like after about 6 weeks. The cucumbers seem as though they will be my one great failure this summer as the plants are not doing anything. And it's weird because last year I had so many cucumbers I couldn't keep them all in my fridge. I didn't photograph the beets or the tomatoes, but both are doing great. Some small person interrupted my photo session. The pumpkins are way in the back and will eventually overrun everything as the vines are now sneaking up the sides of the bed along the garage. They might have been a mistake. But that is the fun of gardening, the failures and the successes keep it interesting.

More food posts on the way...

Beans

Sometimes it takes a national magazine to tell you about something in your own backyard. Food & Wine had a little blurb about a coffee roaster from Chicago winning Roast magazine's Roaster of the year 2007. I was surprised to see that the shop was located nearby, just a short veer off of my daily route. Now many of you know, I'm a regular patron of Peets for my weekly bag o' beans. But naturally, I had to see and taste this award winning roaster's product for myself.

Metropolis Coffee Company is a student-friendly coffee shop near Loyola U. that does some serious roasting in the back of the house. There are burlap sacks of raw beans stacked up high and an interesting variety of freshly roasted beans from around the world are ready for purchase. The people who work there are happy to discuss the origins of the beans and the roast they give them. And most importantly, the coffee is really good. For the first visit, I chose a pound of Kenyan, because we had just bought Kenyan from Peets and it would be nice to compare. (I would say we enjoyed them equally) On my second visit, I opted for the Costa Rican Terrazo which was outstanding in flavor. For my third visit, I tried one of their medium roast blends, the Spice Islands blend. And it has been very pleasant to wake up to this coffee this week.

The advantages of this shop over Peets are 1. location, as I've mentioned it's in my 'hood 2. localism, it is nice to support a small Chgo. business and 3. price, I think these guys are a little less expensive per lb. than Peets (no airfare, Peet's roasts their beans in SF and flies them in daily to their Chicago stores.) Peets gets some points from me because 1. the knowledgeable people there know me and it's nice to see a friendly face (this will probably hold true for Metropolis, but I've only just started going there,) 2. they do a good job finding interesting, limited varieties and I love their blends (here too, I think Metropolis will prove itself, I just haven't had enough experience with them, yet,) 3. its proximity to Whole Foods makes it convenient (I usually hit WF once a week, for fish, mainly.)

Both coffee shops have extremely good baristas. At Metropolis, each drink is made individually, so it sometimes takes a while to get your cappuccino. But when you get it, it will be so much better than a giganto chain press-a-button cappuccino. The espresso is made just right, smooth as silk, and the foam is thick and creamy. Sometimes they do a little swirly heart in the foam just to show their skill. Now that's a good coffee from a trained, skilled barista. I really like that these people have set up shop in Edgewater (a Wicker Park in the making, I think) and I will be a good regular customer. Next, we could use a really good bakery...

Metropolis Coffee Company

1039 W Granville Ave

Chicago, IL 60660

Happy Birthday, Julia

Although Julia Child has moved on to that big kitchen in the sky, there is still good reason to remember her birthday. I thank Julia for making me appreciate the art of cooking and what could be learned about other cultures through food. As a child, I loved to watch her television show, often preferring to see her carve a chicken or make bouillabaise over watching Saturday morning cartoons. Julia using a cleaver to chop the heads off fish was way more interesting than watching "Captain Caveman." So in honor of Julia's birthday today, I plan to cook one of her recipes for dinner or dessert. What am I making? I'm about to go to my cookbooks and determine that. My blogger friend, Lisa at Champagne Taste, has put together a lovely tribute to Ms. Julia, please have a look. Bon Appetit!

I ended up making Blueberry Nectarine Pie from Baking with Julia. This is great baking book that is completely out of my league. Beside this pie, I pretty much just look at the pictures. But the pie turned out nicely this time, better than a recent effort on vacation where I tossed in some blackberries (seeds = bad). I added 1 T more cornstarch for thicker juices and properly measured the fruit instead of just winging it, as I am known to do.

The Name Game

This name for a blog came to me today and I really liked it, mostly because I am always saying to my husband or my children "have a bite." So I checked Blogger to see if the title had already been taken. When it wasn't, I jumped on it. My concern is that I am committing blog suicide by changing the name. But since the URL is not changing, I guess anyone who wanted to find me could. There are only a few blogs where I have been added as a link, so for them I would ask that they change the name, but not the URL, of course. (But not yet, please, as I am still wavering on this change.)

I would welcome any comments on my title change. Did you like the old one better? Do you find the new one more appealing, as I do? The jury is out.