fastfood@home: Fluffy KFC Buttermilk Biscuits

The best part about KFC besides the chicken, is the biscuits with “butter” and “honey spread.” They are light, fluffy and oh so good. I’ve gone through the drive-thru just for an order of four to take home. Of course, I suggest using your own real butter and farmers’ market honey. Better yet, avoid the drive-thru and make them at home instead. This recipe is the best biscuits I’ve ever had. The buttermilk gives the...

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Crispy Kale Chips

    For years, I just assumed kale was relegated to the world of garnish or added to late fall flower beds for some last minute color. But I assumed wrong. Kale can be so much more. How about a crispy snack alternative to potato chips? Months ago I came across a recipe for kale chips. I was intrigued to say the least and best of all it only takes three ingredients; kale, olive oil, and salt. I first...

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Get Rid of Bird Poop

Birds are messy. And my Jardine’s Parrot, Phoenix, is a prime example. Birds sure do poop a lot. And once dry, it’s like cement. She has a perch that suction cups to a window, where I then put down a towel to make sure nothing ends up on the carpet. Everything that lands on the towel then goes to the washer. But even a washer and dryer cycle can’t get rid of bird poop. It’ll turn the it into pellets that are hard...

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midnight snack: Leftover Biscuits with Raspberries & Cream

I don’t like anything to go to waste. So I look for ways to use up leftovers where I can. With that on my mind, I turned some leftover biscuits from breakfast, into a refreshing midnight snack. This is a take on raspberry shortcake. Shortcake is basically a biscuit recipe that is usually sweeter and more firm than regular biscuits. But almost any leftover biscuits will work for this recipe, but stick the homemade...

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A Solution to Cats in the Garden

My new neighbors (actually I’m the new one) love their cats. They have four in fact. But the felines also love newly tilled dirt in my raised beds. I’m not having that. I first bought Shake-Away. It’s supposed to keep cats away with the smell of fox and coyote urine. So far it’s not working, surprise, surprise. Plus, you can’t put it directly in your garden because it’s toxic to pets and humans. Go figure. Next,...

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HOW-TO: Backyard Composting

I already have my compost bin going, but here’s some helpful tips if you’re ready to start your own. These tips list the addition of fertilizer to your compost to provide a nitrogen source. I’m not doing that. Good ol’ manure will work just fine. Manure is my best friend. It once helped me get an 8-foot tomato plant. Compost Tips Laws that limit dumping leaves and clippings into public landfills have reawakened...

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Green Tea Cheesecake with Fresh Raspberry Sauce

Green Tea is everywhere, from soaps to drinks and everything in between. So I thought, why not try it in a cheesecake? I’m not as clever as I think I am. It turns out a lot of people beat me to the punch. There’s tons of recipes out there, but the simplest just requires two teaspoons of green tea added to your favorite base cheesecake recipe. I didn’t feel like hunting down green tea powder as the recipe calls...

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Fall Garden Update

Two weeks on, my hesitancy over a fall garden is over. The lettuce, radish, kohlrabi, swiss chard, carrot, and spinach seedlings seem to be doing great so far. After a summer of cool weather, the humidity and heat has arrived with temperatures in the 90’s a few times but temperatures are now headed back toward 80. My fall plantings are made for cooler weather. But back-to-school season is near, and that means...

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Bird Baths on the Cheap

How about a bird bath for under ten bucks? Here’s a quick, easy and cheap solution to attract birds without breaking your budget. Birds don’t seem to be too picky when it comes to bath time. After all they don’t mind muddy puddles. But instead of spending a fortune on stone, or a small fortune on fiberglass, just use a flower pot saucer. This saucer was just $5.99. Add some water and a stone for the birds to perch...

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Fall Vegetable Gardening

I’m going full bore now that I’ve moved in a new place that’s letting me garden in the backyard. It’s harvest time for a lot of vegetables but it’s not too late for a fall garden, however, I’ve never done one before. Luckily the University of Minnesota extension has great information online for planting veggies and dealing with pests in this area. They listed a few veggies that should be planted by August 1st,...

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Composting in the City

I’ve wanted to compost for quite a while, but that doesn’t exactly work when you live in an apartment with no where to put it, or use it. But since that has now changed, I’m saving all my vegetable scraps and yard clippings. I bought a plastic composter called GeoBin from Home Depot. It’s an open-ended bin that you screw to the size you want, stake it in the yard, and start adding leaves and clippings. I had planned...

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Organic Corn With a Surprise

Yep, that’s a worm that didn’t quite escape a pot of boiling water. I didn’t notice it until the corn was done, of course. But I think I’ll take a worm over pesticides. I bought a dozen ears of corn for six bucks from the St. Paul Farmers’ Market. I first visited the market in June, and now more things are in season. The new arrivals seemed to be cucumbers, carrots, zucchinis, and peppers. I’m looking forward to the...

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Raised Garden Beds

I was inspired to do some raised beds after watching this youtube video. If I wasn’t a renter, I’d do something a little more permanent, but this will serve it’s purpose for now. I used 2x8x10 foot pine lumber to make a 4x4 foot bed and a 4x8 foot bed. I needed the boards cut in half to make 4 foot sections, but I wasn’t going to pay the store a dollar for each cut. The next best thing was to hope they’d fit in...

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Beet Greens

Well I didn't throw away my beet greens after making some great farmers' market pickled beets. The greens are just as good, and more earthy than spinach and even swiss chard. Just throw a little bacon in and I love them all. Here's a simple recipe.   Ingredients 1 pound beet greens 1 strip of thick cut bacon, chopped (or a tablespoon of bacon fat) 1/4 cup chopped onion 1 large...

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It’s Been a Busy Month

Well, my blog has been neglected for a few weeks, as I was moving. It was time to move closer to the city to avoid 40+ minutes on the road every day. But it was also certainly time move from a dreary apartment that faces North. That means no sun at winter, so the small apartment feels even smaller. Luckily I found a nice upper unit in an old Victorian in St. Paul. Now it only take me 8 minutes to get to work. It already...

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