summer | kimberly ah

May 20 2013

Cocktail Perfected: The Goliath

Thanks to a timely tweet by North Shore Distillery, I think I’ve found the summer cocktail of 2013. The Goliath is served at The Tiny Lounge in Chicago (note to Naoto: I want to go here) and Refinery 29 shared the recipe last week. It was the perfect storm of ingredients for me, because I happened to have everything on hand Thursday night for a little impromptu happy hour on the balcony. It’s summer in a glass–lime, cucumber, herb-y Chartreuse and gin… so refreshing on a sunny afternoon! Naoto loves this cocktail, which is a little surprising since he hates Chartreuse (crazy!), and we are both excited to drink a few more of these this summer with our very own, community garden grown Japanese cucumbers!

The Goliath

2 oz gin (We used North Shore No. 6 because that’s what we have, but No. 11 is better!)

1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice

1/2 oz simple syrup

1/4 oz Green Chartreuse

5 slices of cucumber, + a few slices for garnish

Soda (optional…I liked it better without)

Add all ingredients (except the soda) to a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously to break up the cucumber. Strain into a glass with ice. Top with soda (we had it both ways, I prefer it without the soda) and garnish with cucumber. Enjoy on your balcony after you’ve tended to the garden.

Tagged cocktails, garden, gardening, summer

May 17 2013

4 Comments

adventures, Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening

The Garden is Planted

Yesterday afternoon Naoto and I popped over to the garden and planted MOST of our garden. It was the perfect day for planting–warm, sunny and quiet in the garden. It was nice to be there with Naoto…and not just because he did some of the heavy lifting! We both quickly realized that this whole gardening hobby could be a lot of fun this summer–and probably could be pretty rewarding as long as we actually grow something!

We pulled weeds and added a little bit more mulch to our plot before we got started. Then, Naoto dug holes for me and I planted our three tomato plants (two Big Boys and one Brandywine) and our pepper plant in the south end of our plot. Then, while Naoto weeded around our garden plot (the man was a weeding maniac!), I planted our Japanese cucumber and our luffa seeds in the North part of the garden. (Yes, we are going to try to grow our own loofah sponges…a totally weird experiment that I just couldn’t resist!) Our watermelon is going in this neighborhood, too, I just forgot the seeds at home. Then, in the center of the garden, we planted our daikon, watermelon radishes, lettuce, golden beets, limas and peas. There is still quite a bit of real estate left on our plot…I’m thinking more tomatoes. Or green beans. Or tomatoes. Definitely tomatoes. Oh, and we dug up the chive (thanks to Danielle and my dad for knowing what the big ol’ mystery plant is!) and it is now living happily (?) in a pot on our balcony.

At the end, Naoto gave our garden a hearty rain shower. I’m looking forward to going back later this afternoon to check on things…and I’m trying to remain an optimist that things will actually grow!

Have a good weekend! I’ll be back next week with a tasty, Naoto-approved somen recipe, my new favorite summer cocktail recipe and hopefully a peek at the balcony garden!

Disclaimer: As much as it looks like Naoto was the only one working, I promise that is only because I was the only one taking pictures and my work went undocumented.

Tagged adventures, diy, food, forest park, garden, gardening, summer

May 08 2013

12 Comments

adventures, gardening, summer manifesto

Getting Started…

I headed over to the garden plot this afternoon to tackle the weed situation in our plot. As you can tell from above, things were pretty weedy…but our plot wasn’t the worst one, so that made me feel a little bit better as I kneeled down and started pulling. Most of the weeds came out relatively easily, but several of them were really rooted. I have callouses on my hands from all the tugging. I kept thinking, as I was bending over, the drivers sitting at the light on Harlem must see me like one of those “old lady butts” that used to be popular garden decorations. (Do you remember those? No? Maybe it was a regional thing? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s an example of one.)

I found this tiny, soft carrot during the weed pulling.

After weeding, I started hauling mulch to our plot. The community garden had a huge mulch delivery that we are all welcome to use. I hauled five buckets to our plot, which was dirty work, thanks to a mulch avalanche onto my feet and the fact that I was doing everything with my tiny garden spade instead of a proper shovel.

After two hours of weeding and hauling, I had this to enjoy:

There is a plant in the corner (garlic maybe?) that I didn’t weed out. I’m not sure what it is and I know I don’t want to keep it, but it’s so big that I think I’ll need a shovel to get it out (instead of my tiny gardening spade). Naoto and I will be back at the garden this weekend to take care of the mystery plant. We’ll plant our seeds and tomato and pepper plants then, too. I am really excited! I’m looking forward to more afternoons of dirty feet and dirty hands this summer!

Tagged adventures, community garden, forest park, garden, gardening, summer

May 06 2013

3 Comments

Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, homemaking, snail mail, what's for dinner

Scenes from the Balcony

Last week spring hit…hard. One could argue that summer hit because we had temperatures in the 80s and I got a little sunburn from enjoying breakfast on the balcony. (I need to be more careful!) For two whole days, I did nothing but sit outside and write letters, read gardening books, eat breakfast, lunch & dinner and enjoy the fresh blooms on the trees. It felt good to soak up some Vitamin D and breathe in the spring air. This week, it’s supposed to be warm and sunny again. But this week, instead of sitting around dreaming about gardening, I will be weeding out the garden plot, finalizing the planting plan. And that sounds just right to me.

Tagged coffee, food, forest park, garden, gardening, home, homemaking, mail art, snail mail, summer

Apr 30 2013

10 Comments

Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, summer manifesto

Guess Who Got a Garden Plot?

Spoiler alert: I DID!

Shortly after posting this on Thursday night, I got an email welcoming me to the Forest Park Community Garden! They assigned me to plot #6 so Naoto and I went over on Sunday afternoon to check out our space and get a feel for the garden. Plot #6 is in the middle of the garden and it’s looking pretty weedy right now. But, hey, it also came with a few tomato cages!

This week I will be trying to decide what we are going to grow and (hopefully) picking up a few plants or getting a few seeds started here at home to move over to the garden. And we have a gardening orientation on May 11th…just in time to start planting full force. I’m looking forward to the orientation because both times Naoto and I have visited the garden, it’s been deserted…it will be good to get to know some of the other gardeners in our community.

The garden is within walking (& biking) distance of our apartment. It’s located at the corner of Harlem Avenue and the Eisenhower Expressway, tucked between those two roads, an alley and an apartment building. It’s very “urban gardening”…kind of a weird spot, but it totally makes sense when you think about open space in a city.

I’m definitely excited to get started and to hopefully (crossing fingers, crossing toes) enjoy some fresh vegetables throughout the summer. And so far, Naoto is just as excited as I am–I hope our enthusiasm continues through the hot summer!

Are you a gardener? What is the best thing you’ve grown? Do you have any advice for two newbies?

Tagged food, forest park, garden, gardening, homemaking, summer

Apr 05 2013

3 Comments

adventures, Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening

Hopeful Gardeners

Today I mailed off an application for a garden plot in Forest Park’s Community Garden. Ever since we saw their float in the Forest Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade, I’ve been thinking and planning and wanting to participate in gardening this summer. I’m lucky to have an east-facing balcony where I can grow flowers and herbs, but I don’t get enough sun for serious vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers and green beans.

Naoto and I talked things over (because he will have to help me in the garden on the weekends) and he was up for the gardening challenge (even though he has never grown anything in his life!) I’m excited to (hopefully) have a little outdoor activity for the summer. We won’t hear anything until the fifteenth, so until then we are crossing our fingers and considering what us newbie gardeners might be able to handle this summer. Any suggestions? Tomatoes are a must!

Tagged adventures, forest park, garden, gardening, summer

Sep 17 2012

5 Comments

cocktails, summer manifesto

cocktail perfected: the sidecar

A few weeks ago, we had friends over to try out my third classic cocktail of the summer–the sidecar.

Admission: I had never had cognac or brandy before this. Needless to say, brandy will be finding its way into some more cocktails this fall, I promise.

Sidecar

2oz cognac

1/2oz fresh lemon juice

1/2oz Cointreau

Shake with ice in a cocktail shaker and serve in a cocktail glass. Enjoy on a summer afternoon, or (as in our case) use it as payment for a haircut. Thanks, James, for working your magic on Naoto’s unruly hair!

Tagged cocktails, summer

Aug 30 2012

5 Comments

gardening, summer manifesto

this is why i love geraniums

There have been many losses in the garden this year…the over-watered geraniums (the pot wasn’t draining properly), the under-watered Japanese shiso, the non-producing tomato plant and under-producing mint plant…so much sadness. I blame it a little bit on the dry weather, but mostly, it’s me. I didn’t water it enough. But there has been one success with the garden–the sad peachy pink geranium above.

This geranium is two years old and it lived in our spare room (that faces north but gets limited sun thanks to the tree and the building next door) over the winter. When I brought it out, the poor geranium was a pale green single stalk with one tired leaf. I threw it in this hanging pot with my ivy geranium (the pink one), some filler and some petunias (which were another garden casualty this year). I didn’t have much hope for the little guy, but look at it now! It’s flowering and it has a new little branch coming from the bottom! So maybe the garden wasn’t such a huge failure this year after all…

Tagged garden, summer

Aug 29 2012

4 Comments

adventures, gardening, Peggy's Parties

tea in peggy’s garden

My book group friend Peggy has an amazing garden. She knows a ton about plants and flowers and spends the entire winter plotting her summer garden. She also has a vast array of pretty teapots, gorgeous teacups and lovely tablecloths. And, to top it off, she is an incredible baker–her desserts are famous in our book group.

On Tuesday, Peggy invited me over for tea in the garden. It was a perfect summer day to sit among the blooming flowers in the shade of the backyard trees. We enjoyed tea and blueberry coffee cake with a pistachio and coconut topping…soooo good! And we were visited by several birds–goldfinches, cardinals, a woodpecker–and one teeeeeny tiny brown mouse munching innocently on some plants…until he made eye contact with us and decided he should find another yard.

It’s days like these that make me wish fall wasn’t creeping up on us so soon…

Thank you for a lovely day, Peggy!

Tagged adventures, gardening, summer

Aug 22 2012

4 Comments

summer manifesto, thoughts

i love a rainy night

It’s been a really dry summer. It’s been bad for farmers, bad for gardeners, bad for people who love green grass…and bad for people like me–people who love rainy nights. Last night we got the best steady, heavy rain, so I poured a glass of wine and sat out on the balcony for a bit. It was damp and chilly enough that I could curl up in a blanket. The cool air reminded me that fall is coming and these warm summer days are numbered yet again…time to check off the last few items of that summer manifesto!

Are you looking forward to fall, or are you still trying to soak up the last bits of summer?

Tagged summer