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.

I scream for ice cream?

I scream for Ice Cream? Dude, I almost wet my pants. It's the first day of decent, no, even NICE weather here in Boston, so to celebrate I dusted off the ol' ice cream maker and churned out a butter nut crunch that is so good it's hard to put into words. I guess 5 C. of whole milk and cream couldn't possibly be a bad thing, but add almonds, walnuts and pistachios to the mix and that stuff is off the hook. I also used a really corse salt when I cooked the nuts in butter (oh yeah), and I love the outcome. The salt doesn't melt into the ice cream but isn't quite crunchy, so you get a delicious salty sweet mix. You can't even imagine. Seriously.

Happy Homespun Easter, Nip-Hunters

Start old school: the whole family colors Easter Eggs the night before, and then the adults hide them around the lawn the next morning.

The nip hunt, however, brings the fun back for the adults. Side Bar: For those that don't know, a "nip" is not something dirty (for shame!), it’s one of those baby bottles of booze tucked on airplanes and in minibars. In New England they're called "nips," and that just sounds fun. Back to the hunt. Go out and bought assorted nips, quality ranging from Day-Glo flavored schnapps all the way up to a good single malt and a tiny replica of the Chambord bottle.

After the kids find their eggs, give them the nips and had them hide them on us. Nothing says “Easter” like the a flock of 10-12 year olds running around the lawn in their finest toting handfuls of booze. (Your neighbors will really love this. Especially if you do it in the halls of an apartment building.) Even our mother, who is a teetotaler of the highest degree (recurring quote “I don’t see why you girls think you need to drink to have fun,”) was turning over large piles of leaves to score that tiny Chambord.

The kids loved turning the tables on the adults, the adults loved the hunt and the after-hunt. It’s just like being a kid again - only with the adult reward of a beautiful cocktail

The $27.95 meal for only $5!

Everyone loves to get something for nothing, or at least something for cheap. In the New England area there is a grocery store called Market Basket that's known for being really cheap, especially in the meat department. In fact, the best part of the meat department at MB is what's called the "Primal Cut"- basically a side of animal for under $30, or close to that. The latest take at the MB was one lamb shank. I cooked it down with some red wine that had been open for too long, carrots and celery, balsamic vinegar and some broth and served it over mashed potatoes. I love the "slow and low" style of cooking, and if I saw that entree at a nice restaurant, I'd order it and probably pay in the $20 and up range (at least in Boston). However:

Shank: $2.37
Potatoes: $.75
Broccoli side: $.79

The sweet satisfaction of a great meal for damn cheap: Priceless

Lunch? It's in the bag!

Or, "Bag your frozen dinner and make lunch!" or "Brown bag is the new black!". So many cheesy titles, so little time.
Our Mom used to cut an apple in half, core it and put peanut butter where the core used to be, then stick it back together- that's always good. She also used to make the sandwiches on frozen bread so it would stay fresh and defrost by lunch, or freeze a juice box and use that as an ice pack.
Illustrator Kathleen makes homemade soup, then freezes it in small batches when she has a rehearsal after work. She then goes to any convenience store and uses their microwave to heat it up. The added benefits of the 7-11? "Free spoons and salt and pepper!" I guess you buy a slim jim if you're feeling guilty....

Art of the Bag

...lunch, that is. In an attempt to eat healther and stop dropping $10 on stuff that's often not worth it, I've been in search of the perfect combinations...something that will hold up without extreme refrigeration, fit in my laptop bag, and not be all that much work to prepare.

I've been emulating one of my favorite items on the Starbucks 'menu': a few pieces of cheese, apple wedges, grapes, and some toasted nuts (Note: this is monkey-easy. Put a nonstick pan on the stove, turn the heat to medium low, and warm up those nuts, shaking occasionally, for a few minutes. No need to oil the pan since they have plenty of oils all by their nut-ness.) Another winner seems to be a variety of fruit, vegetable and leftovers wrapped in rice paper, Thai/Vietnamese style. And, today I brought some celery sticks and the now famous "I'm Telling You, I'm Not Chicken" drumettes with a little dressing. But I get so bored. Don't know how I managed to eat the same lunch for 8 years in grade school (peanut butter and fluff, may explain why I am shorter than everyone else in the family.)

Any current favorites out there? What rocks your lunchbox? Do you have a really cool lunchbox that motivates you to pack your own?

Homespun Urban Travel Rule #2

Eat what the locals eat. I will be going on a length about this when I get some time (and more bandwidth), but in Frankfurt (where I am now), during intermission at the opera you can eat huge soft pretzels and beer. At the opera. Now that's a good time.

Homespun Travel Commandment #1

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Originally uploaded by kaytwhy.

It has been a far-flung week for the Homespun Girls, who are thousands of miles apart and having all kinds of adventures. Someone was just asking me why I always have a really good time on every trip I take, even though most of those are for business. There are a lot of reasons, but I'd say the top of the list is: Thou Shalt Not Ever Eat in the Hotel Unless Too Sick To Move. Seriously, the food is pretty much always awful to mediocre, it costs way too much, and you deprive yourself of the many pleasures that are waiting right outside the front desk. If you get out and actually see where you are, you'll feel like you've been somewhere.

OK, that's perhaps a little too Zen. Here's an example: in Chicago, after hot-dogging it for lunch, I walked around the block and ran right into BackStage Bistro. It's operated by students at the Culinary Arts Program of the Illinois Institue of Art, and they are all apparently superstars. You sit in a chic space where you can view the theatrics of food preparation behind giant glass walls, and your servers know so much about the different choices, you feel you've been schooled in the tastiest possible way. Even better, you'd be hard pressed to spend more than $20, even if you order one of everything. There aren't a million things to choose from (I know many people find this especially refreshing) since they cook what's good and seasonal and on the syllabus. Wow, it was good, and I'm so glad I ignored the picture of Rachael Ray on the door and went in.