Something evil this way grows....

I have a linear garden of purchased, inherited, gifted and grafted plants. Half of them are herbs and my forlorn tomato plant, the rest are a mix of decorative plants like my Mom's ficus and the giant fern. They all sit along my windowsill and my dining room table in the sunlight. However, recently I discovered that something had creeped into my indoor garden.

At first I had no idea what it was, it was just a random plant growing through my Rosemary. Both my roommate and I were baffled, and it decided to take advantage of us. As we were pulling the Rosemary aside to further inspect this invasive plant, it stung both of us. The sensation stayed in our fingers for a good half hour after the fact. This is what led me to believe that it was a stinging nettle. I found my heavy duty carpentry gloves to cut it out of the pot and dispose of it, once some pictures were taken to send to my Mom for confirmation of it's identity. She gardens and spent several years working part-time in a plant nursery.

The bit that really confuses me about the whole situation is that not only is my garden indoors and 14 stories up in the air, the soil I use is bagged and purchased from garden centres. Soil like that is usually sterilized before being put on sale, so random seeds shouldn't be an issue! My Mom more or less confirmed my suspicions about the evil plant being a stinging nettle, and also mentioned that seeds can lie dormant for large periods of time. They sit in soil, and when the conditions are right, they can then grow. I guess a warm, sunny window that get's a good watering regularly was absolutely perfect.

Evil!!

A variety of things

Happy Civic Holiday! or Simcoe Day! or BC day! and a variety of other names this August long weekend seems to have. It's Simcoe Day where we are. So far as I'm concerned, it's a day to clean this place up.

My apartment's a bit of a disaster. Not even close to one by other people's standards, but both my roommate and I are working long, 9-5 days at the moment, so we haven't swept, vacuumed or put things away with any enthusiasm in a long time. We did get a start on that yesterday, since while I was at a baseball game, she was at ikea with a friend and got some great shelving units for our kitchen and linen closet for more space and organization. Pictures to come.

I've been doing some cooking lately, nothing too exciting though. This week has been very repetitive and boring by way of cuisine. That being said, I have discovered an amazingly easy recipe for dumplings, something I have never made before. This is another Kitchn find, and is so quick and easy to make. I may have to start keeping ricotta in my fridge on a regular basis, since it makes a good quick dinner. It's always a little different each time since I vary the herbs each time too!

Original recipe here.

Ricotta Dumplings with Chèvre and Herbs!

serves 2 generously as a main dish, or 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of water, as needed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Handful fresh herbs (rosemary, flat-leaf parsley, sorrel, mint, thyme, or combination thereof)
2 ounces fresh chèvre

Place a 3-quart (or larger) saucepan of water over high heat. Salt generously and bring to a boil.
While waiting for the water to boil, whisk together the ricotta and eggs. Add the flour, salt, and a sprinkle of fresh black pepper. Mix together quickly and lightly with a spoon. If the dough is too thick and floury, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water. 

Turn the dough out onto a floured countertop and quickly pat it out. (Don't add too much flour; these will be just slightly sticky.) Pat the dough out until it is about 1/2-inch thick, and cut into 1-inch squares. Using a pizza cutter that had been dipped in flour every couple of cuts works really well.

Drop these little squares into the boiling water and cook for 2 to 4 minutes, or until they float to the top and are fully cooked inside. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon. 

Pour the water out of the pan and place back over medium heat. Melt the butter in the pan. While the butter is melting, chop the herbs roughly. When the butter has melted, add the herbs and cook for just a few seconds, stirring them until fragrant. Turn off the heat and add the cooked dumplings back to the pan. Toss with the herbed butter. Add the goat cheese in small dollops and toss.
Serve immediately. 

 Makes for some great leftover lunch the next day too!

In other news, vacation update! My friend and I were up late a few nights ago and found a great travel deal that was hard to pass up, 75% off is hard to argue with. So, as a result, we're going from Toronto to Vancouver by Train!!!

See that big, long red line? That's us for four days!!

We each got a one-person room which included all of our meals on the trip for a fraction of what the room would normally cost. We're also spending a few days in Vancouver upon arrival and the flying back to Toronto. Back to the homeland I go!

Window Gardening

I live in an apartment on the 14th floor of a high rise. Lovely views, and a balcony, which has enough room for a few plant pots. They would be out there.. except that it's a corner balcony and the cross wind is pretty horrific. I've tried to have plants out there in the past, and I've been lucky to find them still within my balcony railings. So, my beloved herb collection has been moved indoors and has taken over our living room windows.

This year's crop includes the usual Basil, Rosemary and Chives. As extras, my Mom gave me a dark opal Basil and I found a tomato plant for $2. They've done really well this year, the Basil is about 3 feet tall! I've also managed to get a second harvest out of the tomato plant! I've been feeding it tea water for months, which according to many sources is a great fertilizer for tomatoes. It hasn't hurt it, and I drink a lot of tea, so it's always readily available.

 

They're starting to get a bit old. I need to do some research into how to dry herbs for later use, see if I can salvage some of them.