[Futuristic] Kitchen Garden

For Christmas, my lovely mother-in-law bought me an Aero Garden.
Have you ever seen these things?
They look like they belong on the Mir Space Station.
True Story.

I set mine up that very day, planting my herb seed pods and everything with maybe a little too much excitement.
You should know, I sort of hoard plants.
I think I have about 19 inside the house.
Add my Aero Garden, and well, I've got a lot of plants.

So here it is after about two weeks.

It's so small. And cute...? Can plants be cute?
As you can see, I'm growing some basil.  Three different types, actually.
Outside the shot are four more sprouts of mint, thyme, marjoram, and dill.

Here's a shot of my thyme looking fly at four weeks of growth.

Now, it's like a jungle in there.
I've been pruning and cooking up the herbs in a lot of my meals just to keep up with their craziness.
It's so fun!
Just the other night, I used a ton of basil to make my own pesto.
The verdict: delicious.

This is before I raised the lamp arm and trimmed some more.
Last night, I grilled some tilapia and then garnished it with some marjoram and fresh squeezed tangerine juice.It was my first time cooking with that herb.
All I can say is fresh and tasty.

Some more glamor shots. Above: thyme and basil.
Below: dill and marjoram to the right.

So yeah.
Growing my own herbs is pretty dang fun.

My mom and dad just sent me a package (for my birthday!) of some more planters and seeds to grow salad greens, beets, and the like!
Can't wait to get planting!

And can I just say how nice it is to have green living things to brighten up the place?
Well, excluding mold.
Nobody wants that.

So how about you?
Are you growing anything these days?
Anything you wish you could harvest?

Adventures in Cooking

We had some friends over the other night for dinner and boardgames,
and I had a first.

While broiling my salmon,
something amazing happened.

It lit ON FIRE.

I was standing there, in my kitchen,
getting ready to take a peek at the fish
when flames began to whip about the baking pan.

First thought: hmmmm.
Second thought: oh dear... !?!?!?!

Then, to my own surprise, I nonchalantly opened the oven door,
held the flaming pan at arm's length (with my oven mitt, of course),
and set it upon the stove.

The flames went out within seconds.
And my salmon was miraculously cooked to perfection
with only the slightest touch of crispiness on the edges
and succulent flaky meat inside.

It was like I MEANT to do it.

So there you go, guys.
I made flame-broiled salmon like a boss.*


*Disclaimer: couldn't do it again if I tried.