Happy Father's Day!

It's the third Sunday of June so that can only mean one thing - today is Father's Day!  It's a day to celebrate all the father's in the world and thank them for all that they do.

My dad lives in Tucson, which is over 500 miles away and I didn't make it home this year, but that doesn't mean I didn't send him something to let him know how amazing he really is!  And it's from me so there's no doubt it was homemade!

This isn't the first card I've made.  In fact, I make ALL my greeting cards!  This just happens to be the first one that I'm sharing on my blog.

My dad is into sailing.  In fact, he and my mom both have their sailing licenses - how cool, right?  I've made him lots of father's day cards over the years, and sometimes it's hard to come up with new ideas year after year.  After much thought, here's what I ended up sending him this year. 

I couldn't just send the card and my dad is pretty hard to shop for.  I could have bought him a book, but sometimes I feel like I'm always buying him books.  Plus, books aren't homemade and I'm all about homemade gifts.  They mean more - you put your time and effort into them! :)  

So along with the card, my dad (as well as my older brother who's a dad too) got some yummy oatmeal raisin cookies.  Confession: I couldn't make them and give them all away so I made a double batch.  I know...I'm crazy!

Yes, you will probably see dough each time I bake something.

Dough is just so yummy! :)

So many cookies! 

Happy Father's Day to ALL the father's out there, but most importantly... 

Happy Father's Day to MY dad! I love you and hope you have a wonderful day!!! 

My First Harvest!

I've been enjoying using my fresh herbs basically since I planted them, but a few days ago I was able enjoy the first real harvest from my garden!  The lettuce had grown so much in the last few weeks and it was time to pick some of the bigger leaves.  

I only picked leaves from the four lettuce plants in the container garden, and I ended up with the equivalent to a small head of lettuce.

All cut up for a salad.

We had gardens growing up, but I don't remember ever tasting home grown lettuce.  My lettuce was so incredibly soft, it just sorta melted in your mouth like butter.  It was delicious and I can't wait to use even more.  

When is two better than one?

When you're talking about two Robyn's of course!  :)

Okay - to be fair, it's one Robyn and one Robin, but it's still the same so that's what matters!

Last Saturday, my friend Robin came over to hang out for the day.  We spent it catching up on our lives and watching a few Bachelorette episodes I had recorded that we hadn't had a chance to watch yet.  It was a pretty day outside, but I couldn't have been happier to spend the day inside being lazy!

We weren't completely lazy though.  More often than not, when Robin comes over I end up cooking or baking at least one thing and she usually ends up helping.  She's always willing to cut something, grate something else, do this and do that.  Thanks Robin! 

Last night we made an amazing pasta recipe that I found online a few weeks ago.  I've been getting a lot of my recipes off The Pioneer Woman recently. I'd been thinking about making it for a few weeks and was just waiting for the right person to make it for - but in this case, the right person to make it with.

I actually forgot to add the peas to my version.  I measured them out and put them back in the freezer until it was time to use them.  It wasn't until I was putting away leftovers that I realized they had been left out.  Oops. As I said before, the dish was still amazing.

Asparagus, broccoli and zucchini OH MY!

Before baking...

and after!

And really, you can't have pasta without garlic bread.  I had some frozen stuff in my freezer, but I thought why not go with homemade?  In my eyes, homemade is always better and in this case, not very hard, so that's what I did!

I combined unsalted butter, minced garlic (that was grown by a friend), basil, parsley, rosemary (all from my garden!) and fresh grated parmesan cheese. Since it was just the two of us, instead of using a whole french bread loaf, I used a sesame seed sub roll.  The end result? Mouth watering!

  

A Garden Fit For...

...the cats! 

I love my garden, but I think my two furry friends love it even more. 

I've mentioned it before, but I'm saying it again - my cats, well one in particular, likes to eat my plants.  Doesn't really matter what kind, or if it will make him sick, he chows down!  

To lure him away from my plants, I planted yummy cat grass for the two little (okay- not so little who am I kidding?) fellows to enjoy.  They go to town whenever I put the pot of grass down on the floor for them and even go to great measures to get to it when it is up on the balcony table.  

They love the grass.  And they love me for giving them the grass.  This is how I get my kitties to love me.  Ha only kidding! :)

In addition to the kitty crass, they like to munch on catnip leaves whenever I let them. They both do completely different things with the leaves too: Ming bites the leaves to release the liquid and then he rubs all over the leaf and the ground where the leaf has been.  Kahn simply eats the leaves - and he steals Ming's too!  Bad Kahn, bad.  

This catnip plant, like my tomato plant, started about 4 inches tall and continues to get bigger and bigger.  I'm even thinking about clipping some to dry now, but I don't know how much willpower the cats will have to stay away from it when it's drying.  Those guys are sneaky little rascals and get into places I never thought possible!  

A Garden Update: 2 Weeks

I cannot believe it's only been two weeks.  The growth that's occurred in that amount of time just amazes me.  I am surprised every day when I see how well everything is doing.  

I recently realized that it's getting a little too hot for my lettuce, but I've been giving that a little extra love and it seems to be doing just fine.  I should be able to start eating some of it sometime next week.  I am excited and can't wait to taste my first home grown lettuce!!!

I have used all of my herbs in multiple dishes already, except for my cilantro.  I'm just waiting for it to get a little bit bigger and bushier and then I plan to make a batch of my homemade salsa.  Mmmm my mouth waters just thinking about it!

Sweet Basil

Flat Leaf Parsley

Cilantro

Upright Rosemary

Garlic Chives

Shallots

Garlic

It's doing soooo well!

Green Leaf Lettuce

Jalapeno Peppers

Look! The blooms that become the peppers.

AND the scallions are starting to sprout, 

but are too tiny to photograph currently!

Oh and remember the tomato plant?  The one that is becoming a monster? Yeah - that one!  It's growing, growing, growing!  Annnnnnnd I'm finding oh so many tomatoes.  I hope they're good or I've been excited over absolutely nothing.  Only time will tell.  Until then, look at this thing!!!

So many...and this is just one part of the plant! :)

I also have a few new additions to my garden.  To be honest, they've been here all alone, but I wasn't sure how they were doing so I didn't want to post about them only to have to report that they had died.  They're both doing amazingly well now, so I'm pleased to introduce the two newest additions: my strawberry plant and mint!  

Strawberry Plant

Mint

I'm currently debating getting the Topsy Turvy Strawberry Planter seeing how well the tomato one is doing for me!  I'll keep you updated.

Cookies: One of the best ways to say "Thanks!"

Last week, right before 3am, I was awoken by a HUGE crrrrrrrash in my apartment!  I was quite startled and instantly awake.  The first thing that crossed my mind was, oh no what didmy cats do!?!?!  After quick inspection I found out that it wasn't my cats at all...

...it was my living room TV stand collapsing taking my TV with it.  The stand was completely broken and not really worth fixing.  Lucky for me though, my TV still worked!  

So how do broken TV stands equal cookies to say "Thanks" you may wonder?  Well, the next day I found out that my awesome apartment manager had an extra TV stand and he was willing to give it to me.  Not only did I have a new TV stand in less than 24 hours, but he had set everything up for me while I was at work that day.  

It was such a nice gesture so I thought, what better way to say "Thanks" than to make him some of my delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies?

Unfortunately when I went to make the cookies, I realized I was all out of semi sweet chocolate chips.  I substituted what I normally use with what I had in my pantry - a bag of peanut butter chips mixed with milk chocolate chips.  The cookies turned out amazing and the peanut butter was a little extra treat!  

MMMmmm Cookie Dough!!!

YUM!

Next time you can't think of what to do to thank someone, try to bake them something to show them your gratitude.  

A Garden Update: 1 Week

I've officially had my garden for a week.  I've had plants a lot longer than that, but as of today I've been a gardener for a exactly one week!  And let me tell you - what a week it's been.  Everything is still alive (woohoo!) and growing so well.  I can't wait until I can start eating what my garden is producing.

Sweet Basil

Flat Leaf Parsley

Cilantro

Upright Rosemary

Garlic Chives

Shallots

Garlic

(It SPROUTED!!!)

Green Leaf Lettuce

Jalapeno Peppers

...and the Scallions haven't sprouted yet! :( 

Soon, I hope...

The tomato plant just continues to thrive!  I have never seen a tomato plant do this well before and I can't wait to taste the tomatoes when they're ready.  There are so many new baby tomatoes and it seems that I find new clusters of flowers almost daily!  

Look at the baby tomatoes and ALL the flowers.  

Growwwwwww baby, grow!

Fresh Squeeeeeeeezed Juice

I've loved fresh squeezed juice since I was a little girl. I remember when my dad would make fresh squeezed orange juice from oranges we picked off my grandma and grandpa's tree.  We would take bags home and my brother and I would roll them back and fourth down our tile hallway to get them extra juicy! Sometimes we'd take it a little too far causing juice and pulp to explode everywhere...sorry mom!

Store bought or concentrated orange juice is okay, but I don't think I know anyone that thinks it's better than fresh squeezed!

Last weekend I asked a friend to bring me some oranges from another friend's tree.  They showed up with a bag full oranges...30 to be exact!  I didn't soften them up like I did when I was younger, but I did squeeze every last one.  The end result was AMAZING orange juice that tasted just like I remember my dad's fresh squeezed orange juice tasting.

Fresh squeezed orange juice isn't something you would find in my refrigerator very often, but fresh squeezed lemonade can be found in there pretty much every other week.

Over the last few months, I have been making fresh squeezed lemonade on a semi-regular basis.  It's so tasty, much better than the powered stuff, and it gives my arms a nice little workout! :)

The recipe I use doesn't take much time at all and it's completely worth it! Give it a try and enjoy it in a glass, as popsicles or it into lemonade ice cubes!  

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

• 1 1/2 Cups Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
• 1 1/4 Cups Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Boiling Water
• 4 1/2 Cups Cold Water

1. Put sugar in pitcher and add boiling water.  Stir until sugar dissolves.
2. Add lemon juice and cold water.  Stir to combine.
3. Refrigerate a few hours to chill before serving.
4. (Optional) Garnish with lemon slices in pitcher and on rim of glass.

The Little Helpers

I have two cats - Ming and Kahn.  They like to be outside on the balcony and sometimes even try to eat my plants...even the ones with thorns!

After planting my garden, I think they decided I needed a little help.

Yummmm Parsley!

Ming tried to share with Kahn, but it ended up on his head!

Kahn wants to get his own!

(All photos in this post were taken by Robin Rhys)

They were entirely too adorable and curious that I couldn't stop them.  I let them explore the new garden for a minute or so - any longer and they would have started to eat more than a little parsley.