Mother's Day

Mother's Day.....

I got to sleep until 10:30 - well, my son did wake me up at 7 to give me my cards and a CD that I'd been wanting - then he told me to go back to sleep. 

I woke up and Matt and I hoofed it to Philly to go to Headhouse Square to the farmer's market where we picked up green garlic, baby radishes (so sweet!), baby leeks and herb plants for our container garden.  Then we headed over to South Street to wander about. 

South Street is a famous/infamous street that is at the foot of Headhouse.  It's a mix of gutter punk, old hippy and high street that is a little different than most areas in Philly.  The stores range from Garland of Letters, which is a metaphysical bookstore, to Condom Kingdom, to vegetarian restaurants to art galleries to bars such as Copa Banana to trash garb emporiums.  Imagine a place where this has a place of prominence:

Larry Fine mural over Jon's Bar & Grille.  Or the art that leads you to a pizza shop:

(Philly is known for their murals - there are dozens of them all over the city)

Anyway Matt and I enjoyed our stroll and shopping trip - we picked up some books at Garland of Letters, a game at Game Stop and a couple of hat at House of Lids, then we headed home so that I could finish potting up the tomato plants that my colleague Peter gave me and to plant our herbs and pepper plants. 

 

I also got to play with my latest gadgets (well, one's new, the other I dug out of the closet - new in box , but bought a while ago. 

 

Gadget #1 - The Breville Ikon juicer.  Back in the late 70s, early 80s, my sister's old roommate was into juicing big time.  She had an Acme juicer that was an instrument of torture to put together and to clean, but the juice was great.  I've been wanting to get back to it for some time now, so when the "bump the economy" check came in, I figured, why not?  I knew that I wanted something easier to deal with than the Acme, so I did my research and decided upon the Breville. I have other Breville products and have had good luck with them - they had the least moving parts and the most metal. When I unpacked it, it is way bigger than I realized.  It is a snap to put together and within a couple of minutes, I was enjoying wonderful fresh carrot M.

I also made scrumptious pineapple/mango juice - I think I may use that one again with some vodka tonight!  Up next, carrot, celery and beet juice. 

 

The other thing gadget is my yogurt maker.   I received it as a gift a year or so ago (after reading French Women Don't Get Fat).  I never used it - no time.  I love yogurt, specifically I love Greek yogurt - but at 2 bucks a container - plastic containers no less - I decided it was time to take it out. 

 

I just made my first batch - I over estimated the milk/starter ratio, so it came out a little thin, but the flavor is wonderful!  I will photograph my next batch.

 

Finally, we made prime rib for dinner (my mom's favorite dinner and yes, I had a little, but am already regretting it) with green beans (sauteed with the green garlic) salad and oven roasted potatoes. Hope everyone out there has had a wonderful Mother's day!)