So, I literally have not tried to grow anything since the first grade where the class did lima beans, but last Sunday, B and I planted all sorts of vegetables, and I threw in a sunflower mix. It’s been less than a week and some are sprouting! I haven’t killed anything yet! Yay!!

In our collection: cilantro, mint, chives, thai basil, thai chiles, arugula, lettuce, catnip (for the l’il kitty), butternut squash, and the summer flowers.

The next challenge will be to plant them somewhere they can actually grow to their full size. Good thing we have about a month to figure that out…

I broke in my fancy Le Creuset tagine pot given to me by my sister Christina! She completely spoiled me last year and got me a cookbook to go along with it, and now I’ve finally had the opportunity to try my hand at making a Moroccan meal.

I knew I was on the right track for the night when I started the actual cooking. If you think sautéeing onions and garlic smells freaking awesome, try adding cinnamon, tumeric, cumin seeds, and cayenne pepper!

New things learned:

1.The cookbook I used also had a different way of making the buttery couscous. Instead of boiling water and adding the couscous, they suggested pouring warm water and waiting for the grain to absorb it completely, and then placing it into a preheated oven for about 15 minutes.

2. The recipe also called for rose water, which was cool because I’d never used it before and it didn’t really detract from the flavor of the stew.

I love this cuisine so much, I’m wondering how I can fuse Vietnamese food with it. Spring rolls with chickpeas? Cumin noodles? Yeah…it’s a stretch all right. Anybody have any ideas? I think experimenting would be interesting, if not disastrous…

vintage salt and pepper shakers

If you haven’t been to this area of the country, you will love it. It pains me to admit that even though Austin is a great city and I love it, it’s not exactly the prettiest, unlike Mobile, which is extremely picturesque. The first things that will catch your eye are the beautiful trees and the gorgeous historic homes. What’s even cooler is that nearly every place you go to has a good chance of being haunted (like the coffeehouse we went to on our first day in Mobile – Carpe Diem). This doesn’t change when you go to New Orleans either. We had cocktails at the Carousel bar at Hotel Monteleone which is apparently one of the most active hotspots for paranormal activity. Luckily, the activity is fairly benign – opening doors, lost little girls asking for directions, etc. No wandering headless apparitions with bloody hands, thank goodness.

The Garden District

Ghostly topics aside, here is a list of some of the places we feasted: Le Meritage for a three-course lunch, Café Amelie for shrimp and grits, Acme Oyster House for crawfish étouffée and oysters, Wintzell’s Oyster House for more seafood, and Fortune Pho 75 in Biloxi for Vietnamese comfort food after a long day of sightseeing and driving.

The visit was much too short, so I just need to plan another one…after all, a nine-hour drive from Austin isn’t THAT long…;-)

St. Louis Cemetery

scallops at Le Meritage

Lessons learned: don’t rinse red lentils and set aside. They will harden extremely quickly and you’re going to have to use your hands to pry them loose. Add salt generously, and don’t be shy with the chile! Since I’m a saltaholic, I added gourmet blackened salt with the yogurt and lemon.

Verdict: This healthy soup is delicious and great for leftovers!

Today is my first day of absolutely no solids. I’m probably not drinking enough of the juice, but frankly I’m rationing it till the end of the day when I can get more veggies to churn in my juicer.

I will now end this pitiful entry with a montage some of my favorite foods in Austin:

Uchiko Deliciousness

Pho Dan for the best pho in town

La Condesa

Yummm Koriente!!

Weighing my carrots for the IzoCleanze red juice

I know everybody hates resolutions. I definitely do. They’re way too lofty, unreasonable, blah blah blah.

Instead of having these crazy goals for a new year, I just take it as a time to clean up my brain, which inevitably results from the physical cleaning of my house, my car, and my file system. Having a mental timer go off every six months to do these things works for me, and I wanted to share the five ways of how I am welcoming the new year.

1. The cleaning of my system. You can laugh, it’s kind of gross, but I swear by the IzoCleanze. I’m easing into it by doing the partial cleanse, but will move into the full cleanse. I’m going to try to hang on for 7 days. In case you’re wondering, I didn’t start it because it’s a celebrity-endorsed cleanse; I actually didn’t know it was until after I did my first one. The holidays bring out the worst in my eating habits, and this past one was no exception – Popeye’s, Arby’s, about a million pounds of mom’s food, and lots of coffee and booze. What better way to start the year by going on a food regimen of juice and quinoa?

2. Re-organizing finances. I have a lot of travel plans I’d like to do for this year, but that isn’t going to happen magically. Not only did I find things to cut out of my budget, but I use mint.com to see exactly where my money is going. You can even set goals to help you allot funds. This idea may depress some, but let me assure you the bright colors of the pie charts can really take the edge off.

3. Planning calendars for both my consulting and creative projects. Like Mint, seeing my calendar puts perspective on how much I will be able to accomplish.

4. Starting an experiment I’ve been wanting to do since last year. In an earlier entry, I talked about crafting a product in order not to buy one made in China. It truly makes me sad that our domestic economy continues to decline simply because massive corporations want to save a buck. In any case, I’ve been wanting to try this more seriously for a year. So, I started a new blog today!

5. Cleaning/re-organizing my kitchen cabinets and utility closet. This prompted me to convert an old box into something nicer to hold  plastic and paper bags:

I know doing pillow covers is so Sewing 101, but I never really paid attention to anything to home decor until recently. Since it’s the Christmas season, I thought having some awesome red and gold pillows would be festive! I followed this easy how-to to make these:

This project was 100% fun and gratifying because it took me around 40 minutes to make. All I had to do was choose fabric, trim, and the pillow form size. I swear I was so pleased with myself I kept hugging them. I foresee multiple sets for each season…If anyone knows of other easy home projects like this please let me know!