Check out my garden

See those tiny little sprouts? I lovingly collected the dill seeds and cilantro seeds when my herbs bolted (went to seed) last summer. Then the seeds were planted a few weeks ago and here they are growing!

The rosemary plant is new. I did not dig up my rosemary plant for the winter and bring it inside and therefore needed to buy a new plant. I will dig it up this fall and bring this guy inside!



See my chives? I didn't have to plant them this year! Those chives came back from last year without any extra care from me. Chives are awesome! New this year I bought sage because I ate incredible fries with fried sage in Boston in December and I also bought Cinnamon Basil. Last year we had three basil plants, Michael, Thai, and Greek. The Thai and Greek were the biggest producers of the three. I'm sure I'll end up buying a Thai or Greek plant soon.



See that green plant peeking out of the strawberry pot? It's a strawberry plant. I planted about 24 strawberry plants this spring. Some of them look really good and others might not make it. This is my first time growing strawberries. I already have had a bunny try to pull an entire strawberry plant out of the pot.



The rest of my yard is for flowers. Enjoy

Azaleas





The last of the daffodils. The traditional all yellow were the first to bloom and these bloomed later. The first one has a pink center and the second has an orange center.





After the incredible storm we had on Sunday many of my tulip heads broke off their stems.


I have a few other things blooming in my yard. Spring is making me very happy!

Chicken Tikka Masala

I have posted this recipe before here but I haven't posted photos before :)
I made a little Indian feast for dinner tonight. Chicken Tikka Masala, Basmati rice, samosas, garlic naan, and mint chutney.

Recipe from "Complete Indian Cooking"

Chicken Tikka Masala

1 package of chicken breasts, my package had about 3 breasts which I drizzles with olive oil, salted and pepper and baked in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes. Dice into bite size pieces.

4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onion, thinly sliced. I used just 1 onion
1 inch piece of ginger root, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons coriander
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 tablespoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
A few handfuls of frozen peas

Make the sauce by heating the in a large skillet or saucepan; add the onion, ginger, and garlic and cook over gentle heat, stirring frequently, until softened but not colored.

Add the spices and fry, stirring for 1-2 minutes until fragrant, then add the cream, tomato paste, water, sugar, and salt. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring, then lower the heat, and simmer gently, stirring, for 10-15 minutes. We cooked the sauce for about 10 minutes and for the last 5 minutes we included the precooked meat and the frozen peas.

We served this over some basmati rice, had Trader Joes Garlic Naan on the side. I also bought a package of 4 samosas that came with packets of mint chutney.

Ham and Cheese Quiche

Ham and Cheese Quiche

1 frozen pie crust
1 egg
1/2 cup cream or milk
salt
herbs, I like to use rosemary (fresh or dried) but I cut some fresh chives for this one
Diced ham
Shredded cheese, Swiss goes well with ham

In a bowl beat together the egg, cream or milk, and seasonings.
Pour into the prepared pie crust.
Evenly sprinkle ham onto the egg mixture.
Top with a layer of shredded cheese.

Bake in a 375 degree over for about 40 minutes. Check to see if the quiche is set in the middle. If it is still liquidy put back into the oven for another 10 minutes and check it again.

Foursquare Day BBQ

My husband uses Foursquare on his work iPhone. I think everyone at his office uses it too. His workplace hosted a Foursquare Day BBQ today so my husband and I made food for the party. About 40 people RVPed for the party. Brats, burgers, chips, and drinks were provided by other people.

Cantaloupe Salsa appetizer

My husband made this salsa. He used red onion, cilantro, juice a lime (1 lime per cataloupe), cantaloupe, and jalapeno. I don't usually eat cantaloupe as just sliced fruit but I really did like it as a salsa.


The salads

Asian Coleslaw

I made this recipe
Ramen Noddle Coleslaw and my only addition is I like to toast the almonds before adding them to the slaw





Wagon Wheel Pasta

I use this recipe Wagon Wheel Taco Pasta Salad and I also add Good Seasonings Italian Dressing. I buy the packet of seasoning in the salad dressing aisle and follow the directions on the package. I like my pasta salad to be a little wetter than the original recipe.



Bread
My husband made jalapeno cheddar cornbread muffins again. The same recipe and results as posted here Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

Desert
I made M&M Sugar Cookie Bars because I saw this post in my Google Reader this week and it made me HUNGRY for this desert!
I doubled the recipe for my larger sized pan. After 10 minutes I would pull the bars out and add the m&ms. I think I waited a little too long (15 minutes) and the bars were cooked enough that the m&ms didn't set into the bars very well. No complaints about them at the party. They were wiped out. I managed to cut out 30 bars from the 1 pan.