Herbs!

It has been such a busy, crazy week that not only has it obviously been difficult to blog, but difficult to remember that I actually did go ahead and plant some herbs this year as I hinted to in another post. On the advice of friends, I started with an Italian basil plant to try on success and  decided to purchase flat leaf parsley seeds.

Then courtesy of a box of Triscuits, I also had a package of dill seeds to plant. Triscuits has started a home farming movement and on specially marked boxes of Triscuits there is a seed packet that can be removed for planting and their website provides step by step guidance on how to plant the seeds.

So my little guy and I headed outside a few weeks ago and planted (he insisted on wearing his sister's gardening gloves):

I had low expectations for the seeds I bought and even lower ones for the free ones, but in two weeks Imagine my surprise when we found this:

Yep, that dill came right on up!

And we had a few tiny parsley seedlings and a very healthy basil plant (which I proceeded to harvest!):

Fast forward to last week and we left for Arizona for 5 days. I asked someone to get my mail, I stopped the paper...I forgot to tell someone to water my herbs!

So I went outside fully expecting to find some sad withered little plants or seeds that didn't sprout seedlings. But instead, I found this:

 The parsley and dill shot up! I am sooo excited about the progress and even more committed to make this successful.

Oh and that Italian basil goes awesome on those chicken parmigiana burgers!

I am looking forward to using my own herbs in new dishes soon!

Herbs and Holidays

So it was a busy week for the Cook Crook and the Easter holiday is upon us. The parents are coming over for a holiday meal which means I will be creatively trying to find a way to please a meat and potatoes guy and a devoted low-carber. Should be interesting!
In the meantime, I am trying for the first time to grow my own herbs this year - fresh herbs are always something I appreciate and try to use whenever possible. They really bring the homemade taste to a jarred sauce and add flavor depth to meat and pasta. I started with chives, cilantro, parsley and basil this go round...I'll let you know how it goes!
My favorite use of fresh herbs will be incorporated into Sunday's menu: herb and horseradish encrusted beef roast - yum - slow roasted, medium to medium rare. I'll see what I can steal for side dishes between now and then!!
Until then, Happy Easter.