Going Domestic

in a pickle

Today at the Millarville Farmer's Market, we stopped by the herb guy's wagon and bought a bunch of dill along with our usual bag of basil. Chris and I are going to try pickling cucumbers (and maybe carrots) this week! The herb guy was interesting - he informed us that the flavourful part of a dill stem are the buds before the flowery parts bloom, which he compared to marijuana (not that he knew anything about that stuff, really, he emphasized). How weird! Anyway, I think that we're going to consult the ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen for our pickling endeavors - they have a bunch of pickling resources and we had great luck with their instructions for the crabapple jelly we made last year. 

The Great Kraft Dinner Debate

I thought that Chris and I were beyond having the Kraft Dinner debate, but how quickly we forget! We were in Superstore last weekend, and when I reached down to grab a few packages of Kraft Dinner from the shelves (hey, Madeline likes it!), Chris stopped me and indicated that we could buy two boxes of the generic macaroni and cheese for the same price as one box of authenic KD. Sheesh! Our income is high enough that we can afford to spend an extra 40 cents to buy the real Kraft Dinner :) 

In the end, we compromised and bought the President's Choice white cheddar version ... it actually is pretty yummy, as far as artificial cheese products go ...

The Watched Pot ...

Chris made a batch of the bolognaise sauce from his Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian cookbook this weekend, and we've been eating it for dinner with pasta for the last four days. What was interesting was learning that we cook pasta very differently!  I add the dried pasta to water that is at a rolling boil, and keep the pot at a rolling boil until the pasta is cooked to my desired consistency. Yesterday, Chris would tweak the temperature knob on our stove down to less than medium-heat whenever he got a chance! I didn't get too mad, though - I realize that for him, it's normal to cook pasta at more of a simmer. I'm not sure how much longer it takes to be cooked through, but it all tastes the same at the end. I also think he adds the dried pasta to the water before it's boiling ...

we live in this filth?

One thing that amazes me about the hardwood floors that we refinished is how often I have to either sweep or Swiffer them.  Each room gets a swipe on a weekly basis, but frankly, I could do it every other day and still have a dustpan full of particles of something.  I am a little horrified about the amount of dirt that the carpet in our old apartment must have been hiding now!

Another reason that caffeine is no good

It clogs garbage disposals!  Yesterday I was washing the dishes after lunch and I noticed that the water in the sink wasn't draining. This happens a lot, and a few seconds of running the garbage disposal has always remedied the situation.  Except yesterday, the garbage disposal wouldn't run when I flipped the switch - it just made a buzzing noise like it was jammed. Chris did a bit of research and discovered that the coffee grounds that he has been washing down the disposal each weekend aren't actually approved for use in garbage disposals! I think this is another sign that we should get a composter :)