tiny butternut squash – is it stunted from growing in a container or is it just a lil’ baby?

cherry tomato on what I think is part of a light that used to be on the railing of the roof

green and red cherry tomatoes

eggplant (with incidental cilantro going to seed, corn, something we thought was catnip but who knows?, sunflowers, squash, tomatoes and basil as well)

cornstalk against the blue sky

jalapeno – sadly, these didn’t turn out to be that hot…

morning glory with as-yet-unbloomed sunflower

Chinatown in NYC is one of my favorite places in the world.  It feels like a different country almost, and it’s always full of people buying fresh fruits, veggies, meat and fish, walking around in the street, etc.  It just feels so vibrantly alive.   Columbus Park is my favorite park in the city.  In the spring the trees are flowering and it’s just beautiful.  There’s always people doing tai chi, and soccer playing on the field, and people playing Chinese instruments, which sounds ethereal and wild, and a ton of people sitting on all the benches reading newspapers and eating things.  I like to get jasmine green bubble tea at Ten Ren’s Teatime and dumplings from Tasty Dumpling and sit in the park and eat.  I just found out about the Chinatown Ice Cream factory on Bayard Street, and Chinatown just got that much better.  Also, when we went to get ice cream yesterday, they accidentally gave me Laura’s ice cream because we both had glasses on and our light brown hair pulled back and with the blue eyes, etc, ALL WHITE PEOPLE LOOK SAME!  So now we are sisters.  And we didn’t even have to marry our children off to each other!

This pic is from the NYC Parks & Rec site, and there are some more cool panoramas there.

-1 quart traditional round yellow peaches

Ok, the fruit share may be vindicated.  The peaches this week look, smell and taste like peaches, and they are ripening up wonderfully.  Maybe not as nice as a Georgia peach fresh off the tree, but would you rather eat a New York peach that had been hanging in the tree earlier that day or a Georgia peach that spent the better part of a week in cold storage on a truck marinating in fossil fuel fumes?

(This New York peach is from cnycentral.com)

Sidenote: I may make that plum crisp with ginger ice cream again…

• 1 quart red plums
• 1 quart white donut peaches

Veggies

• 1 bunch white onions
• 1 bunch radishes
• 1 lb orange sweet peppers
• 4 ears corn
• 1 lb beets
• 1 bunch basil

here’s a photo:

look, here’s another photo!

Amazingly, that wilty basil perked right up in a jarful of water and is still going strong 1 week later!

Random tidbit: I’ve been making caprese salads frequently with the cherry tomatoes from my containers, basil, fresh mozzarella, olive oil and balsamic. Delicious.

Another handy tip: Lemonade is very easy to make, and lemons are cheap! Refreshing as heck on a swampy day. Limeade is also awesome!

And another uncensored opinion: I’m a bit disappointed by the quality of fruit provided to us by Bushwick CSA via Red Jacket Orchards. These plums were mealy and not sweet at all, and the donut peaches are staying green and hard while the skins are wrinkling up and getting ugly. As much as I love farm-fresh produce, supporting local producers, and reducing emissions and fossil fuel use by buying local, I have to say that the way it’s set up encourages the farmers to give the CSA their worst quality produce because CSA subscribers can’t choose what they’re buying, so they can sell the nicer stuff at farm stands. If they sold the crappy produce at farmstands, farmer’s markets and retail it just wouldn’t sell. Not that I’ll be canceling my CSA or anything dramatic like that, I just wish that we were getting better fruit.

Here is what we got last Wednesday (as a lovely surprise on Thursday night when we got home):

Please note not only the lovely illustrations but the fact that this note is a pyramid.  It is wearing pyramid underwear but I didn’t think a photo would be appropriate.

***

There was a wedding on the left coast, with two beautiful brides and this decidedly un-wrecky cake.  The bottom layer was a delicious raisin-free carrot cake.  I don’t know who made it, but kudos.

I made cold borscht and jalapeno cheese cornbread (not the most orthodox combination perhaps).  The borscht is such a complex flavor itself that I might rather serve it with a baguette or rye bread with butter.  However, I had the ingredients for the cornbread and I really can’t resist making cornbread when it is an option, so I made it.  Both from the New Moosewood Cookbook.  For the cornbread I used the savory cheese variation and added 1 diced jalapeno (probably could have added 2) in addition to the scallions, corn kernels and sharp cheddar.  It’s really delicious with extra cheddar melted on top of it.  Also, I used the old amounts of butter and honey (from the first edition Moosewood cookbook) in the cornbread.  Here’s a link to a copy of the cornbread recipe.  No dice on the cold borscht though.  You’ll have to buy the book.

Asian Barbecue sauce with chicken wings
This is a sweet, dark hoisin-y sauce that tastes great on chicken. The recipe linked is just for the sauce, but I toss it with chicken wings or legs and cook in a 450 degree oven for 30 mins or more. I’d probably leave in the oven a little longer next time because the wings could have been a bit crispier in my opinion. You could marinate the wings but it’s not really necessary. Grilling instead of baking would probably be awesome too.  I like to serve the chicken wings over white rice (brown would work too).

Super Slaw
This is an amazing asian-inspired coleslaw with a peanutty, gingery dressing. It tastes both rich and light if that is possible. For the slaw, only make as much as it says if you have a kajillion people to serve. Half of the recipe fed the two of us for a couple of meals. Also, add the dressing a little at a time. I don’t usually add all the dressing, I save some to put on other salads. The first time I made this I added all of it and the coleslaw was a bit too wet.

I think “Super Slaw” is a stupid name.  This slaw is tasty but is not faster than a speeding bullet nor does it have any other super power.   However, I got the recipe from epicurious and haven’t made changes significant enough to call it my own, so “Super Slaw” it stays.

anyway, here are the plants:

I’m growing (l-r, back-front)

morning glories & sunflowers, tomatoes & jalapenos, butternut squash & corn & beans, sunflower & cucumber, tomato & basil & green onions, cilantro, more sunflowers, eggplant & chives, strawberries.

Eggplant Flower

bonus photo of double rainbow as seen from our roof

one of them had a face in it.