Another day, a new garden

Long time, no post. Sorry about that. Guess I should start with updates.

The the first attempt at container gardening failed. The cabbage loopers won the broccoli, the kale, and the pepper. But we've started over, with seeds as I mentioned before. So far it's just radishes and spinach, plus some daisies, but it's something. The worst thing about working outside right now is all the mosquitoes. I don't know where they're coming from, since we haven't had rain in over a week, and it wasn't a long rain. I think they might have been breeding in the containers of the garden- they'd have access to the water at the bottom via the pipe you use to fill the bottom or the drain hole on the side. If so, we've got the drain hole covered now, and I'm going to use a rubber band and plastic wrap to take care of the pipe.

The other night I made a second attempt at cooking dried beans. I put 2 cups of kidney beans into the crock pot and set it  low to cook overnight. About 5 hours into cooking, the steam made the lid slide and jiggle and woke up the mister. He woke me up and I was all "It's just the rain." Apparently, the sound of the top jiggling on the ceramic led me to dream about rain hitting a tin roof. I'm sure I'm not the only person to have sounds invade their dreams. Anyway, I used most of the beans in a mix with ground beef for tacos last night (tip- baby spinach leaves instead of iceberg lettuce=better tacos, imho), and plan to make a bit more to finish off the rest of the beans in a chili Saturday. Tonight, though, I've decided to roast a whole (free-range) chicken, along with carrots, parsnips, and potatoes. I should probably get started with that pretty soon. I generally don't use a recipe for this, just a generalized version from the recipes I've read. Chicken gets covered (including the cavity) with butter, pepper, and kosher salt. Fill the cavity with garlic. Throw in the oven. I cut up the vegetables and toss them in a bowl with olive oil, parsley, paprika, a little chili powder, and black pepper. If you want something more precise, here's a recipe from Martha "Potatoes that Taste Better than the Chicken". Jaime Oliver also has a good roast chicken recipe.

On a personal note, I've joined the local roller derby team. I had my first practice earlier this week and my legs are finally not so sore. I also got my first bruises, from learning controlled falls. I probably drop my knee a little too hard. Although the team lets the fresh meat borrow gear for the first month, I went ahead and bought my own pads and helmet (both are from Triple Eight) last night. I'm just learning how to do crossovers, so I figured I should just buy the gear now so I can get used to it instead of switching out in a few weeks. I still need to get skates, but I want to try out a few different types first. I've got another endurance training session this week; I'll let you know how my protective gear works out.