Raspberry Vinaigrette

I’ve been so busy with school and work I’ve barely been cooking, let alone making anything worth posting about.  The most I’ve done on the weekends is bake bread, make applesauce, apple butter, and pumpkin puree.  I did pickle some hot peppers and have a bunch of little hot pepper plants growing like weeds under my grow light.  My rosemary is finally growing thanks to a friend’s organic fertilizer (thanks Claude!) and both lemon trees are doing well, although one of them is no longer a resident of my apartment.  I am trying to sprout some apple seeds currently and would totally plant a pumpkin seed when I puree the last 3 pumpkins I have if I wasn’t terrified of it taking over my livingroom.

On non-food related news, I have a real livingroom now!  Claude and Dallas were generous and wonderful enough to give me their entertainment unit and were at my place for about 2 hours on Monday evening helping me move everything around.  My computer desk is now in my bedroom and then tv, ps3 and ps2 are all in the livingroom on the entertainment unit.  I can now look for a coffee table and end tables!  So excited! 

Back to food…I have been searching for months for a salad dressing I love that I can make at home.  I finally found it this weekend.  I made a homemade raspberry vinaigrette for our thanksgiving supper and I adore it.  I’ve never liked storebought raspberry vinaigrettes before so it was surprising.  It’s simple to make and I have all the ingredients at home, amazingly.  It keeps well in the fridge, and just needs a shake or whisk to put it back together for serving. 

Raspberry Vinaigrette

2 tbsp homemade raspberry sauce (basically try to make raspberry jam but don’t add enough sugar or pectin for it to set, lol)

1 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

1 tbsp White Vinegar

1/8 cup Olive Oil

1/8 cup Canola Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Wisk the raspberry sauce and vinegars together.  Slowly drizzle in the oils, whisking constantly.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stores well in the fridge, just shake or whisk before serving.

Organic Produce Delivery and Rental Garden Plots

I’m so excited about spring this year, which is crazy!  I don’t like the heat and I don’t like bugs so normally spring and summer are pretty…well…”meh”.  This year is different.  I hope.  I’m testing two new things (to me) this year that I’m hoping will make life that much better. 

The first new thing I decided on was finally signing up with a company that delivers produce to your home weekly or bi-weekly.  They do their best to provide local grown, organic produce whenever possible.  I got my first tub of food yesterday evening!  I signed up for the medium box, which is $50 (including delivery) and am getting bi-weekly delivery.  I probably end up spending over $100 on produce in a month anyway and at least this way I get a nice variety, can try new things, and don’t have to leave my house. 

These are the contents of the box I received last night:

2 apples

4 pears

3 kiwi

1/4 seedless watermelon

2 navel oranges

1 valencia orange

1 grapefruit

2 potatoes (yes…only 2…I was disappointed, lol)

1 yellow onion

7 carrots

1 bunch of asparagus (some of the stalks were over a foot long!)

1 bunch of celery

1 head of romaine lettuce

2 zucchini

2 tomatoes

Overall, a lot of it I would’ve bought anyway, but I will still have to purchase some veggies from the grocery store, specifically mushrooms, peppers and potatoes.  I’m fairly sure it will last me two weeks.  One of the really cool things about the whole process is that when you sign up you can specify things you love and things you never ever want.  You can also make substitutions and add other items from their grocery store to be included in your box.    You can find more information here.

The second activity I’m wanting to get involved with is Renting a Garden Plot.  Some community centers have them, and the city of Winnipeg has a few locations that have garden allotments.  Unfortunatly they are all taken so I’m on the waiting list for next year.  Since people who are renting this year have first choice next year, I doubt I’ll get one next year either!  Thankfully the guy I spoke with at the Parks division of the city directed me to a contact from the Lord Robert’s Community Center.  Apparently they’re starting to rent out garden plots this year and might have something available.  I called and left a voice mail with my contact information, hopefully they have something and I can maybe start this weekend, it’s almost getting too late to plant!