Congratulations to Meaghan! After training for the last couple of years, Meaghan was finally chosen for the LUMBERJACKIES. She worked so hard, and we're very proud of her. Looking forward to seeing her skate in the August bout.

GO MEAGHAN! GO LUMBERJACKIES!

Farm fresh vegetables, local honey & wine, coffee, baked goods, a TROMBONE BAND...our local farmers' market has something for everyone. Take a look at some of the goodies we picked up this week. 

The best part about these types of markets is that they offer different things each week. As vegetables come into season, the selection changes and there's always something new to try. Can't wait until next weekend! 

Rob has officially been 28 years old for one whole week. We celebrated on Saturday with a little BBQ in his honor. The weather was beautiful, the ducks were friendly, and we all had a great first day of summer!

I'm pretty sure Rob had a good time...

PLANTS NEED WATER. Lots of it. Last year, one of the things that limited my garden was the lack of an easily accessible water source. There is no outdoor hose or hose connection at our apartment, so all the water has to be lugged down from the second floor. 

Container gardens dry out faster than traditional gardens because there is less soil to store water for when the plants are thirsty. 

And sometimes I get lazy in the morning and just can't make another trip upstairs.

Needless to say, you get what you give, and vegetable plants that are thirsty produce less food than those that are properly hydrated.

I did a lot of research over the winter. Luckily container gardens (usually discussed along with "urban gardening") are very popular and there are a lot of resources. I specifically looked for ways to help with my water problem that didn't require a lot of tools (which I didn't have) or money (which I didn't want to spend). The best project I found was in the book The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible. I first took it out from the library, and then I got a copy from Rob's brother as a Christmas present. You can also see the step-by-step instructions here.

The basic idea is you use the cover of a storage container to create a false bottom, under which is a sizable reservoir that you fill with water. This water is wicked up through PVC pipes that are tightly packed with dirt, and the plant's roots draw the water up through the potting mix when it needs a drink.

Several gallons of water can be stored in the reservoir at a time, and only need to be topped off as needed. MUCH easier than carrying 6-8 gallons down the stairs every single morning.

Fast-dry caulk keeps the PVC pipes in place.

This picture was taken right after I transplanted everything. Look at how LITTLE everything is!  Look at the tub on the left...

This is what it looked like only two weeks after transplanting! Plant-splosion!

So far, I'm very happy with my two containers. If all goes well, I will probably make two more next year. I still have caulk, and all I would need are the storage bins ($5 each at Target) and more potting mix.

GARDENING IS ADDICTING. Hopefully I get a couple of tomatoes and a zucchini out of all this!

Weaver's Chicken Croquettes were one of my favorite frozen dinner entrees growing up. 

What are croquettes? 

They're kind of like fried chicken meatballs with gravy. Crispy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside. I had forgotten all about them until last year when one of the food blogs I read mentioned them, and I thought, "hmm I could really go for some of those." So I went to the grocery store, and looked and looked for them. When they couldn't be found, I searched online, and learned that they had been discontinued years ago.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I was disappointed. More disappointed than I should have been about a frozen food. But I felt sad that I had JUST remembered this thing from my childhood, and I was so excited to relive this little experience, and now it wouldn't be happening.

Then I remembered that the internet exists. 

One Google search later, I had hundreds of copycat recipes to choose from. I looked through a bunch until I found one that I thought resembled the frozen version the best.

I put this recipe on my list of 14 recipes to make in 2014. 

Here they are, waiting to be fried up. I was so excited to be making these that I only remembered to start taking pictures at this stage.

How'd it go? It's been a long time, but damn, they tasted just like I remembered! There are a lot of steps to make these guys, but it didn't take as long as I thought, AND it makes a huge batch. I fried all of them, but we only ate 4 for dinner that night. We froze the rest of them, once they cooled, in bunches of 4 or 6. When we were ready to eat them a couple weeks later, we preheated an oven to 400 degrees, and baked the frozen croquettes for 35 minutes. They came out awesome!