A salad for all seasons

I just made a salad that is pretty amazing, given its humble ingredient list. Like many good ideas, this one was born of necessity- I needed a salad for a dinner and all I had in the house for vegetables was carrots, canned beets, and canned chickpeas. I did a quick recipe search, got some general ideas and came up with this:
Cut carrots into thin sticks. Rinse chick peas and dry. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and cumin. Roast in a single layer in a 375 oven for about 20-30 min. Add the beets in the last 10min, also tossed in the oil mixture. Let cool while you're fixing the rest of dinner. Toss with some vinegar, a little more oil if you want, and that's it! I know it doesn't sound that exciting, but this is one where the product is so more exciting than its written description. (And even if you're not a huge fan of chick peas, try it: roasting them makes them crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside. It will wipe away all memories of the chick peas on the Super Bar at Wendy's..) Plus, it tastes fresh, but is available all year long. Some variation include serving it over fresh lettuce, toss in some goat cheese, blue cheese, nuts, whatever. Tasty, good for you, and makes you pee red the next day- a fine salad all around.

We have growth. Repeat: We have growth.

Something is growing by the back fence/neighbor's yard- I'm not 100% sure if it's snap peas or morning glories, but I'm leaning towards peas. Who knew? Apparently the house is not sitting on a former nuclear power plant/thermometer factory/toxic waste dump. Stay tuned, sports fans.

WWJD in the bathroom?

I'd like to think he'd wash thoroughly...

Your homespun garden

True confessions: This is an area of homespun living that is my
weakness. Not weakness in the sense of "oh, I can't help myself, I love
to garden", weakness in the sense of "every green thing I touch dies".
But hope and the desire for a decent tomato that doesn't cost $4.98
springs eternal, so I've started to urban garden. Two containers oftomatoes
, herbs, assorted flowers are on the porch and on top of the garage.
I've flung seeds of morning glories, beans, and sunflowers in the dirt
near the fence to see what will grow. While digging in the dirt I found
some shards of what looked like someone's grandma's serving platters, which makes me wonder if I'm growing "Sweet 100's" or "Contaminated Leaddys". Anyone know how to test soil?

Stayed tuned, sports fans: if anything actually grows, I'll let you know.