Farming: Container Style

I've begun doing something I never thought that I would do.  I am attempting to grow my own herbs.  I started with cilantro, rosemary and oregano.  These are three that I use frequently, so I thought that this plan made sense.  Everyone told me that the rosemary would grow like crazy, but it's really not taken off just yet.  My cilantro is growing like crazy though!  I'm pleased with this development as I have several recipes that I love to make, but hate to buy a whole bunch of cilantro when you only need a tablespoon or so.

Cilantro plant after a couple weeks

I've decided to keep them growing in pots through the winter, and then transfer them outdoors in the spring.  I've also decided that I would like to add to the list of things that I can grow at home.  Anyone have any ideas for easy to grow items that won't require a lot of space?  I've been gathering a few ideas online, and pinterest has provided me with a couple of interesting ideas for planting above ground.  One that I'm tempted to try describes how to grow a pineapple in your home.  (click here for more info!)  I realize that this will take quite some time, but why not give it a shot?

What I really need to hear from others is what they've tried that works and doesn't.  I realize that mint grows easily around here, but am not in need of a large supply of fresh mint so will skip this effort entirely.  Have any of you container gardened successfully?  What veggies/herbs would you suggest for a container garden?

Believe it or not, I'm Blogging Again.....

That probably should have been walking on air, but you all know that blogging again is much more appropriate for this girl.  That said, two blogs in three days..... watch out!  

Gone are the days of catchy theme songs from your favorite television shows.  What happened to them?  Do we really get that much more per episode by eliminating the opening theme song?  I don't know.  All of the shows I grew up with had songs I knew by heart. 

My younger sister posted her list of favorites yesterday over at passion tea lemonade, and I began to think about which shows would make my list of favorites.  There are so many to choose from...... but I did choose a few.  Here they are:

1) "Cheers"- Who wouldn't want to occasionally go where everybody knows your name?  And they're always glad you came.  Woody, Sam, Norm and the gang are always there.  

2) "Little House on the Prairie"- I realize that this theme has no words, but the tune is one I will never forget.  EVER.  This was one of my very first favorite shows.  I wanted to be Laura.  I always felt sorry for Carrie when she fell while running down the hill.  I hated Nelly Olsen..... Harriet too.  

3) "Moonlighting"- Dave and Maddie..... did they ever end up together?  I can't remember, but I remember buying Bruce Willis' tape "Return of Bruno" simply because I loved his character on this show so dearly.  Flirting and fighting while solving cases for the Blue Moon Agency: home of the quirkiest receptionist on television.

4) "Facts of Life"- Which version of this show do you love the most?  When they're with Mrs. Garrett at Eastland Academy, but Jo has yet to join the cast?  Once Jo arrives, and the four girls must live above the kitchen?  When the graduate high school and go onto college?  Or when they remodel the bakery after the fire and open "Over Our Heads" with George Clooney's help?  No matter which version, it was a family friendly sitcom that my sisters and I watched for years.  What happened to the family friendly sitcom??

5) "Silver Spoons"- Another one of my early faves.  Ricky Schroeder was so cute, and who wouldn't want to grow up in a house with a train, video games and race car bed?  A dad that owns his own toy factory trumps military school any day.  I should also mention that I once had a haircut very similar to the Rickster mid-80s.   What a pain it was to sit while mom curled it under with a curling iron.

6) "Laverne & Shirley"- One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! Sclemeel, Schlemazel, Hasenfeffer Inc!  We're going to do it!  Make our dreams come true!  

There are so many more that should be on this list, but I think six is a nice number for now.  Those that probably could have replaced a couple of those listed are: "Growing Pains", "Sesame Street", and "Green Acres".  Which would be on your list?

Sweet! I'm gonna be rich!

I might be the worst blogger in my family, but I don't really care.  I've just gotten news that I've made $.38 from this pitiful little blog.  Imagine the possibilities if only I were to post on a regular basis.  I could retire early and live off of the earnings that my posts bring.  I think that I need to get myself a muse.  Where do you find one these days?  Maybe this plan isn't that great.  I'll have to think about it.

In other career news, the Restaurant Store will be participating in Girl's Night Out this year.  Those of you in LR should mark your calendars and plan to attend.  We'll be sampling dips and selling all kinds of stuff.  Want to learn more?  Check out this link: http://www.alice1077.com/Article.asp?id=1906780&spid=20755.

Guess that's about it for now.  I'm off to watch the CTK Bears play some volleyball.  Go Bears!

I'm going to be a better blogger ( or how I prepared pork tenderloin)

Last night I prepared a roasted pork tenderloin.  I had never cooked an entire pork tenderloin before, so I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with the one I had purchased over the weekend at Kroger.  I decided to first look around online for ideas, but nothing really sounded like anything for a beginner.  There was one recipe that involved mushrooms and blue cheese, but any recipe that involves a meat tenderizer and butcher's twine is definitely more involved than I care to attempt after being at work all day.

I finally came across one that suggested using Dijon mustard as a sauce for the roasted pork.  This still wasn't exactly what I had in mind.  While I'm a huge fan of Grey Poupon's advertising campaign from the '80's, I really don't care for their mustard.  So...... I decided to use the horseradish mustard from Kroger that I love.

I think that dinner turned out pretty well for a first attempt.  If you care to give it a try, here's what you'll need:

Pork Tenderloin

Horseradish Mustard  (amounts on all of these vary depending on size of tenderloin)

Oregano 

Basil

Rosemary

Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  (side note: I wish I knew what keys would make the little degree symbol on my keyboard!  Anyone know?!?)

2) Wash pork and pat dry.  

3)  Place on roasting pan.  I used a silicone glazed pan that is naturally nonstick, but would suggest using nonstick cooking spray if you don't have one.  This didn't produce a lot of juices, but I did end up with some baked onto the pan at the end.

4)  Brush pork on all sides with mustard.  I did not use as much as I probably should have, as some areas were not nearly as flavorful as others.  I suggest being very liberal during this step.

5)  Dust the top and sides with the oregano, basil and just a bit of rosemary, and finish with cracked black pepper.

About to go into the oven

6)  Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees, and bake pork until internal temperature at thickest part reads 145 degrees.  

7)  Let stand for five minutes before serving.

Finished Product

That's it.  I think I baked ours for about half an hour.  Mk and I had leftovers today for lunch, and it was still very tender and full of flavor after being reheated in the microwave.  

Oh yeah, the inside should be slightly pink when fully done.  Don't worry, it's ok.  The FDA says son.  Don't believe me?  Check this out: usda-on-pork-other-white-meat-can-be-a-little-pink

Calgon, Take Me Away!!!

I've gotta say that I'm pretty tired of severe weather warnings.  It was last Thursday that the the tornado hit my street, and since then we've had a couple more tornado warnings, hail, and LOTS of rain.  In fact, my phone tells me that we have no sunshine headed our way for a while.  Boo!

Dislike

I can't remember if I mentioned this when I last blogged, but I finally talked to my Allstate agent on Monday.  I gave her until 10am to return my voicemail or email, but ended up having to call her again since she failed to meet my mental deadline.  It was interesting that she seemed so surprised to hear from me, but she took my information and informed me that a claims agent would be in touch with me in 2-3 days.  Other than that, all I learned from her was my deductible amount.  About five minutes after we hung up the phone, a lady in her office called my cell phone.  When I answered, she identified herself and told me she was returning my call.  Nice, right?  I did get a bit more information out of her.  She told me that if there were any way to cover the hole in the roof to do so.  The reason?  "Allstate won't want to pay for excessive damage"...... seriously.

Around 4pm on Monday I left work armed with a giant tarp.  I somehow convinced jtl to leave work and join me in my efforts to place the tarp on the roof.  I was so thankful for the help.  Gotta say that I probably have the best dressed handy man around.  I haven't seen any other guys working on my street in a tie. 

When he arrived, I had already gotten my ladder out and determined that it was not the best choice.  He confirmed my thoughts.  We had to borrow a ladder from my neighbor, but we managed to get the damage covered.  I still had no power at my house at this point.

Tuesday morning, I find out that the power is back on and AT&T is planning a service call to get the Uverse back up and running.  This requires an adult to be present, so I opted to take the day off work and spend it doing the chores that had piled up over the weekend.  I spent over an hour cleaning out my refrigerator, did multiple loads of laundry and went to buy groceries. 

By 4pm, AT&T still hadn't shown up and the sky had begun to cloud up AGAIN.  The wind had been pretty strong all day, but nothing too crazy.  The repairman showed up around 6, and had the cable  up around 7.  I think it was about this time that we notice that the wind has blown the tarp off of my house.  Great.  The lightning has begun and the rain is falling.  Tornado sirens begin not too long after, and Mk takes cover in the bathroom again.  I've gotta say that I was a bit frightened about what could happen with those two giant pines still standing over my house.  Luckily, we made it through two rounds of tornado warnings that night with only a little water standing in the sun room as the only noticeable change since the day before.

Day 1 of Water Building Up

 
Yesterday afternoon, the severe thunderstorms with hail began.  I don't think my car has any damage, but the change at my house is noticeable.  Given that the tarp had just blown off Tuesday night, I had not had a chance to get anyone back up there, and the rain and hail is not helping things.

Holes in the Roof

I finally heard from the claims agent last night.  He began by telling me that he understood I had "a little wind damage" to the back of my structure.  I told him that there is a hole in the back wall/roof of my sun room.  He then informs me that he is an inside claims specialist.  He apparently handles the minor claims that can be resolved with a phone call and no on site inspection.  I'm guessing my insurance agent didn't really pay attention to the part regarding the hole in the roof.  When he found out that the roof actually has rolled shingles, he quickly apologized and told me he has to refer my case to an outside claims specialist.  So now I wait for a new guy to call to schedule an inspection.  Good times.

Water Making it's Way into the Sun Room

The Damage a Week Later

Blurry Side View

 This morning, I took a few more pictures.  The rain has now begun to come through the ceiling in the sun room in one area, and the siding is slowly removing itself further along the back wall.  I'm so ready to have this whole situation resolved.  The tarp will be replaced today, and I'm hoping to get an estimate from a contractor in the next day or so.  One day at a time, right?  Sigh.

A New Week

Orange cones must be a sign of progress, right?  Too bad they're on the wrong side of the street!

I called Entergy's emergency outage number this morning and found out that power should be restored to my house by 3pm today.  I really want to be optimistic about this, but yesterday they told me that their estimate was 6pm and there were others before that.  The big difference is that when I went by the house yesterday at 4:30 there were Entergy trucks everywhere.  Further snooping revealed that they were working on the opposite side of the street, BUT this is still progress.  I hear that Markham was back up and running finally around 6pm last night. 

Farewell Rusty Wheelbarrow.  You were a great lawn ornament.

I still have not been able to get any information out of Allstate.  I'm frustrated that I've not been able to make progress in clean up as several of my neighbors have.  The slight hole in my sunroom room is now a giant mess hanging from the back of my house.  I'm hoping that the winds and rain will hold off for a while.  I don't need any more things falling off of my house for a while.

Damage on Day 3

I did receive welcome news from my neighbors yesterday afternoon.  Apparently the Arkansas Baptist State Convention Disaster Relief crew had come to help us with our cleanup.  There were men everywhere volunteering their time to help my neighbors remove trees and other debris from their property.  I was able to meet with the man in charge, and submitted a claim with them for the tree removal from my back yard.  What a blessing to have help arrive without even asking.  I've had so many friends and family members call, email or text their offers to help me clean up my back yard, but having complete strangers show up to help was something I never expected.

This picture still doesn't give the full effect of all the tree limbs, but it's the best I've taken so far.

 Here's hoping that my house will have lights later today.  That refrigerator MUST be cleaned out soon.  Thank goodness I'm the type that only buys food for a day or two at a time. 

The wind began to switch.....

So, last night was my first Italian class. It was a lot of fun, and I'm thankful for my limited Spanish background which seems to make Italian words a bit easier to understand when not in sentences. Ha! Looking forward to seeing how much I can actually learn from this Dutch man that grew up in Italy.

A picture my dad took of the back of my house earlier this morning.

We woke up around 2am with the sound of glass shattering and what sounded like constant thunder and lots of wind. I got mk and Sadie into the hall bath immediately. We had no power, and I couldn't find any good weather updates on my iPhone. Thank goodness for so many friends and Facebook to keep me updated! When we could only hear rain, I ventured out of the bathroom to see where the broken glass was. I was cursing myself for not having a flashlight. I had to use a tealight candle and my phone to inspect things. I couldn't find the glass, but was a bit freaked out when I looked out my back door. It looked like someone was standing there. I opened the door to find a giant piece of a pine tree and fallen onto my run room.

I did finally locate the broken glass. The storm window in Mks room had shattered. So much better than it could have been. Mt neighbors were not all as lucky as me. Helen (Dorothy) was probably hit the worst with the pine tree going through her roof and destroying her porch. Two doors down, another neighbor has part of a pine in his living room. Two doors down from there, a GMC Jimmy was totaled by two pines falling onto it. My next door neighbor on one side has three pines on top of her house, and the other one had her storage building blown to bits. Why couldn't that have been my storage building. That thing NEEDS to be destroyed!

Thankfully, we are fine and the damage is minimal. The main power lines are down in the middle of Markham. They have to replace it, so currently the area next to my street is shutdown. Every house on myblock has lines down in their yards, so I have no idea when power will be restored. Looks like I'll have to have cable and phone repaired as well, but all in all I'm happy that we are all fine.

Please excuse all spelling and grammar issues as I've posted this from my iPhone. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.