Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients

• 3-4 medium potatoes
• 1 small onion, or less
• 2-4 cloves of garlic
• 2-4 T. butter
• 2-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• salt & pepper, optional
• Old Bay seasoning, optional

Directions

Melt butter in a medium bowl. Chop the onion and garlic very finely and add to butter. Remove rosemary leaves from stem and chop finely as well. Add rosemary to butter and stir everything. Use whatever type of potato (or a mix) and cut into bite size chunks. Sprinkle desired amount of salt, pepper, and Old Bay seasoning on potato pieces then add to bowl. Mix potato chunks in rosemary-garlic butter until well coated and spread in a single layer on baking sheet or roasting pan. Now comes the key to this recipe, which I developed from thekitchn.com: ROAST THEM FOR AT LEAST 45 MINUTES! You can use a spatula to flip or mix them halfway through, but don't stop short. They will look nearly burnt-crisp on the outside, and the middle will cook to a perfect fluffy mashed potato type of consistency. Imagine eating fried potato wedges and mashed potatoes combined in one bite. Pretty fuckin A, man. 

JoeSo Garden 2015!

I got the yard all cleaned up and most of the garden planted this past weekend, 4/18 - 4/20. I want to increase my herbs this year, do better with the zucchini, carrots, and red peppers, and continue the massive broccoli operation I've run in recent years. The broccoli I got last year -- Pacman hybrid transplants from Home Depot -- produced so much, starting in June and going into the Fall. I wanted to replicate that exactly as I did it last year ... but Home Depot did not have the Pacman hybrid broccoli plants this year. They didn't have any brocolli at all! Son of a bitch! I can probably find it elsewhere, though...

Last year I had a nice zucchini plant, which yielded some really large vegetables -- too large. I kept letting them grow when I should've harvested each one at the appropriate size. Easy enough to fix. I expect to get a nice yield and I might put in another zucchini plant as well. That seems like a sell-able product.

I had one tomato plant last year, which I used a lot in the Fall to make sauce. This year I got two cherry tomato varieties to use in my mason jar salads. They should grow well with minimal care.

I did a row of carrot seeds, same as last year, and tried to make sure I softened the soil underneath a little better this time. I had some decent ones last year, but I want a little more consistency -- and length -- this time around.

Last year I had a green pepper plant that produced a decent number of small vegetables. I used them with hot sausage or pierogies and put them in sauce in the Fall. I really like sweet Italian red peppers so I decided to give them a try this year. We'll see how it goes.

As far as the herbs go, I want to increase my yield so I can use more, but also to try and sell them. I'd also like to start using herbs to make my own fragrances, etc. I've grown cilantro, oregano, mint, and basil  very successfully, and this year I added lavender and rosemary.

I planted two stevia plants, same as last year, and will probably add a couple more if space allows. Last year I harvested a lot of stevia and ground it into a very fine powder, which I use as an alternative sweetener. I want to make a syrup out of this year and use it as a sweetener in mouth wash.

Delightful Chicken Salad

As you may have read in a previous post, I love using leftover chicken to make chicken salad. Last week Lizzy decided to put a whole rotisserie chicken from the grocery store in my fridge, and I knew right away that it would make a great chicken salad. You really just need shredded up chicken and dressing, like mayonnaise, but ideally you'll want to include celery, cucumbers, maybe chopped onion, a little spicy mustard, etc. The combination I whipped up today came out really well, so I want to document the recipe.

• half a grocery store rotisserie chicken (I used the dark meat) OR grill a large chicken breast
• some finely chopped red onion (~ 1/4 C.)
• some finely chopped banana peppers (~ 1/4 C.)
• 1-2 Tablespoons of the banana pepper liquid from the jar
• half a sweet red pepper
• half a cucumber
• 1/2 Tablespoon hot sauce
• 1/2 Talespoon whole grain Dijon mustard
• 1/2 C. mayonnaise 
• 2-3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Mix together and serve on rye bread topped with cucumber slices.

Essential Oils

When I first made chap sticks last year I purchased two small bottles of essential oils -- peppermint and rosemary. Then, since I had them around, I figured I'd try the peppermint oil in candle making, to give a good, strong scent, and add therapeutic properties. This led me to order several more bottles of essential oils to use in candle making. I haven't used them to make candles yet, but just having them sitting around for a few weeks has triggered a new interest in essential oils and all their wonderful uses. I've already ordered another 6 or 7 bottles to add to the first few I got. I'll list here some of the different ways I've started using essential oils to make my home and life cleaner, fresher, more therapeutic, and less chemical.

Cotton Ball in Vacuum Cleaner Bag --  to provide a fresh scent and antiseptic properties. Try peppermint, lime, lavender...

Air Freshener -- water, vodka and various oils in a glass sprayer bottle

All Purpose Cleaner -- water, castile soap, baking soda, tea tree oil plus other oils for fragrance

Glass Spray Bottles for cleaner and air freshener -- remove the plastic spray cap from a plastic spray bottle and use it in combination with a glass bottle that has a screw top (e.g., from a bottle of soda). I started ordering sprayer nozzles and using them on green glass Perrier bottles. You can use the mineral water to make mouth wash.

Mouth Wash -- 8 ounces of water (try mineral water) with baking soda, tea tree oil, and peppermint oil. Shake and rinse.

Adding to a Hot Bath -- place several drops in water while drawing a bath; try with bath salts. Try ginger for sore muscles, eucalyptus for breathing, patchouli for skin and mind rejuvenation, lavender to soothe and calm the body and mind.

Electric Diffuser -- drop oil on pad; place pad in diffuser; plug diffuser into wall outlet. Try:

stimulating: peppermint, citrus oils

relaxing, sleeping: lavender

better breathing, sinuses: lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint

meditation, rejuvenation: patchouli, frankincense, rosemary
cleaning, clearing the air: 

Inhalation Method -- place a drop or two of oil in palms; rub together, place hands over mouth and nose and inhale deeply 6 times. Try peppermint to wake up, citrus for mood enhancing, lavender to relax!

Apply Directly with a Carrier Oil -- I've been adding a few drops of patchouli and ginger to olive oil and rubbing it all over my dry cracked Winter skin.

Face Wash -- liquid castile soap, water, vitamin E oil, almond and/or olive oils, plus tea tree and other choice of essential oils

Candles

Made some new candles last month.... The bigger (32 oz.) mason jars came out really nice. I made some with wooden wicks, some with hemp wicks, some cotton. I used mason jars, Altoid containers and other former candle jars. The ones I made with the peppermint essential oils do not have a strong enough scent. You need to use about 5ml of essential oil for a pound of wax. Let's remember that next time...

New Batch of Beeswax Chap Stick

Just made 19 new beeswax peppermint-rosemary chap sticks...

New Cast Iron Pot

Cooked my last meal of the year and first in my new cast iron pot -- Man Breakfast!